Ta'ang National Liberation Army rebel group (Photo: Getty).
An armed alliance called the "Brotherhood Alliance" consisting of three rebel groups, the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), has been conducting an offensive against government troops for more than two weeks.
Clashes have erupted across Shan State and are intensifying near the northern border with China. Rebels have since seized towns and key trade routes to China.
In a statement on November 15, Myanmar military government spokesman Zaw Min Tun admitted that the rebel alliance used hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack Tamoenye government positions in Shan State.
The alliance is also attacking a military site near the town of Laukkai, which the MNDAA says it has surrounded and intends to seize from the military government.
A spokesman for one of the rebel groups said an entire Myanmar army battalion stationed near the Chinese border surrendered to them on November 15.
The surrender of the 261-man battalion, including 127 soldiers and 134 family members, marked the largest surrender of regular military forces since armed conflict broke out in 2021 when the military took power after ousting the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Le Kyar Wai, a spokesman for the MNDAA, said each soldier who surrendered in Shan state, including the commander, was rewarded 1 million kyat (about $480) and their family members were each rewarded 100,000 kyat (48 USD).
However, the military government has not yet confirmed this surrender information and AP sources could not independently confirm the information.
The incident occurred just over two weeks after the entire Myanmar 143rd Infantry Brigade surrendered to the rebel group before the government army announced it had lost control of the strategic town of Chinshwehaw.
Since the rebel alliance launched its offensive last month, soldiers and police in Karen, Kayah, Rakhine, Chin states and the Sagaing region have also surrendered, according to ethnic armed groups and independent local media.
The rebel alliance has scored major victories, according to sources, and the military government made a rare admission on November 2 that it had lost control of three towns, one of which is a key border crossing for trade with China.
The military government faced another challenge earlier this week when the Arakan Army launched surprise attacks on military targets in five towns in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, where the military government and the Arakan Army had signed a year-long ceasefire earlier.
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