Residents of Hsipaw Township in northern Shan State told DVB on Friday that regime forces retook control of the town from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) after several administration offices and a hotel there were set on fire Thursday.
“We don’t know which side set the fires. The roof of Hsipaw Hotel was also burning. We think it was hit by heavy artillery,” a Hsipaw resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Hsipaw, seized by TNLA on Oct. 13, 2024, is located 45 miles (74 km) south of the regional capital Lashio.
Regime media reported on Friday that the military was conducting “clearance operations” in Hsipaw. It claimed that the TNLA carried out arson on the town’s administrative offices and hotel on Thursday.
The TNLA has not responded to these claims from the regime in Napyidaw. Lway Yay Oo, the TNLA spokesperson, has yet to respond to a DVB request for comment.
Hsipaw is the third town taken in northern Shan by the regime since it launched a counteroffensive to retake territory seized by resistance forces in order to stage its elections scheduled to begin on Dec. 28.
Regime forces advanced towards Hsipaw from Kyaukme Township after it recaptured it on Oct. 1. Kyaukme is located 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Hsipaw and 66 miles (106 km) south of the regional capital Lashio.
Nawnghkio Township, located 52-96 miles (83-154 km) southwest of Hsipaw and Lashio, was recaptured from the TNLA on July 16.
Three civilians were killed and four teachers were injured by airstrikes carried out on schools and residential buildings in Namtu and Namhsan townships of northern Shan, located 30–38 miles (48–61 km) north of Hsipaw, on Oct. 17.
“They bombed two places simultaneously. They struck the No. 1 High School in Namtu,” a Namtu resident told DVB.
The TNLA stated that a total of 29 civilians were killed, including seven children, in 25 aerial bombings on territory under its control Oct. 1-16. It did not mention the number of casualties in Hsipaw in its Oct. 17 statement.
The TNLA controls Momeik, Manton, Namtu, Kutkai, Namhsan, Monglon, Namhkam and Mongngaw townships of northern Shan.
A regime counteroffensive against the TNLA has been advancing toward the ruby mining town of Mogok in neighbouring Mandalay Region, located 97 miles (156 km) northwest of Hsipaw, since mid-September.
Ethnic armed groups, like the TNLA, along with its allies in the People’s Defence Force (PDF) have seized 103 towns in Myanmar since the uprising to the 2021 military coup began. At least 10 towns have been recaptured by regime forces during its counteroffensive, according to DVB data.
Besides Nawnghkio and Kyaukme in northern Shan, the regime has retaken control of Moebye in southern Shan, and Thabeikkyin in Mandalay Region since July. It claimed the counteroffensive is meant to “stabilize” the country in preparation for the 2025-26 regime elections.
China has brokered three rounds of peace talks between the TNLA and the regime since February. The talks focused on reaching a ceasefire, protecting civilians, and stabilising border areas, but no formal agreement was reached.
The TNLA has refused to hand over towns to regime control that it seized during its offensive launched alongside the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army (AA) on Oct. 27, 2023 called “Operation 1027.”
