Myanmar junta loses contact with base, officers likely held by rebels

Army officers stand guard as police officers patrol in Lashio, northern Shan State, Myanmar, on May 29, 2013

Myanmar’s military government has lost communications with officers at a major base in north-eastern Shan State, a junta spokesman said Monday, adding that some of them have likely been captured by ethnic minority rebels, admitting a setback in its fierce fighting with opposition forces.

The remark in an audio statement on the Telegram messaging app came after the ethnic Kokang rebel group based at Myanmar-China border claimed last Saturday it had seized full control of the military’s regional military command in Lashio, the state capital.

Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said in a televised speech Monday night that security forces had withdrawn from their positions in Shan State. But he did not detail the situation, stressing that the junta will “continue to strive to ensure peace and stability” not only in the state but across the nation.

The rebel group, named Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, is one of the three ethnic minority militias that launched a coordinated offensive in October in the country’s northern region, posing the biggest challenge to the military since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.

The pro-democracy People’s Defence Force, the armed wing of the parallel National Unity Government formed by members of Suu Kyi’s political party after the coup, has been collaborating with the three ethnic minority militias in resisting the military.

The regional military command in Lashio has been considered the most strategically important base among 14 such commands across the nation.