Residents of Mogok Township and sources close to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) told DVB on Wednesday that regime forces have launched a counteroffensive to retake the ruby mining town in Mandalay Region from resistance forces in mid-September.
“The enemy has drones and all kinds of heavy and light weapons. It has artillery from ground forces [and] a considerable strength,” a source close to the TNLA told DVB.
Mogok, located 124 miles (200 km) northeast of Mandalay, is a major source of revenue for both the regime and ethnic armed groups due to its ruby mining industry. The town was seized by the TNLA in July 2024.
Regime forces are reportedly advancing towards Mogok from Thabeikkyin Township, located 141 miles (227 km) southwest of Mogok, and from Nawnghkio in neighbouring northern Shan State, located 44 miles (72 km) southeast of the town.
The regime has recaptured Nawnghkio and Kyaukme in northern Shan from the TNLA since it launched a counteroffensive in July.
Sources close to the TNLA told DVB that regime forces captured a key junction located on the Mandalay–Mogok road called Fawtaw on Oct. 13. It is a strategic transportation hub linking Mogok to Mandalay, the region’s capital. Fawtaw is located 44 miles (70 km) from Mogok and around 10 miles (16 km) from Thabeikkyin.
The People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Mandalay and an unknown group calling itself the “Mogok Strategy Force,” are fighting alongside the TNLA against regime forces.
An airstrike was reported in Hsipaw Township of northern Shan on Tuesday as regime forces attempted to retake the town after Kyaukme fell to its forces on Oct. 1. Hsipaw is located 97 miles (156 km) southeast of Mogok.
Residents reported that Hsipaw is likely to be taken by regime forces in the coming days – over one year after it was seized by the TNLA on Oct. 13, 2024.
Twenty-seven civilians were killed and 35 were injured in a total of 14 airstrikes on territory in northern Shan controlled by the TNLA from Oct. 1-9.
“They deliberately targeted civilian populations from the air,” stated the TNLA on Oct. 15. Children under age 13 were among the casualties. Last month, 18 airstrikes killed two people and injured seven, damaging houses, schools, monasteries, and government offices, the TNLA added.
Mogok residents in the Mandalay Region told DVB that most civilians had fled their homes due to the fighting. They added that regime forces had blockaded the Mandalay–Mogok road, which made the cost of fuel, medicines, and other commodities rise dramatically.
“We can’t buy fuel, we can’t buy raw materials. We can’t get medicine as needed, and we don’t know how long this will last,” a Mogok resident told DVB. “Everything is scarce.”
Ethnic armed groups, like the TNLA, along with its allies in the 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 ongoing counteroffensive, according to DVB data.
The regime has retaken control of Nawnghkio and Kyaukme in northern Shan, Moebye in southern Shan, and Thabeikkyin in Mandalay Region since July. It claimed the counteroffensive was carried out to “stabilize” the country in preparation for its elections scheduled to begin on Dec. 28.
With fighting over control of Mogok and Hsipaw underway, the TNLA still controls Momeik, Manton, Namtu, Kutkai, Namhsan, Monglon, Namhkam and Mongngaw townships in northern Shan.
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 captured during its offensive launched alongside the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army (AA) on Oct. 27, 2023 called “Operation 1027.”
The MNDAA signed a ceasefire with the regime on Jan. 18 and handed back Lashio Township, which it seized along with the Northeastern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters in August 2024, back to the regime in northern Shan.
The AA continues its offensive in Arakan and has seized 14 out of 17 townships in the state. The TNLA has refused to hand over any territory it has seized and continues to fight to maintain control of it despite having lost two towns to the regime counteroffensive.
