AFP :
Residents of Kyaukme in northern Myanmar are counting their dead and picking through rubble following fresh fighting that shredded a Beijing-brokered ceasefire between the junta and an alliance of armed ethnic groups.
Last week fighters from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) took control of the town of 30,000 — on the main trade route to China — in the latest setback for the military as it battles opponents across the country.
But air and artillery strikes, as well as rocket attacks, have gutted parts of the northern Shan State town, leaving buildings without roofs or windows, and residents desperate to flee.
Burned-out cars stood in front of one shattered four-storey building, its corrugated roofing strewn about the streets.
TNLA soldiers in combat fatigues stood guard outside the police station, while others carried out patrols and checked vehicles.
Kyaukme resident Kyaw Paing told AFP his home was damaged by a huge blast after he saw a military plane fly overhead.
“Pieces of body — head, hands and legs — were scattered on my roof when the bomb hit some houses nearby,” he said.
“Seven people were killed here, and there was huge damage.
“I don’t want to live this poor, miserable life in the war… I feel so sad.”
Myriad armed groups
Myanmar’s borderlands are home to myriad armed ethnic groups who have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 for autonomy and control of lucrative resources.
Some have given shelter and training to opponents of the military’s 2021 coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi and plunged the country into turmoil.
In January, China brokered a ceasefire between the military and the “Three Brotherhood Alliance,” made up of the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the TNLA.
The truce ended an offensive launched last October by the alliance that seized a swath of territory in Shan state — including lucrative trade crossings to China — dealing the biggest blow to the junta since it seized power.
Other towns along the highway that runs from China’s Yunnan province to Myanmar’s second city of Mandalay have also been rocked by the fighting.
On Thursday TNLA fighters attacked Lashio, around 85km from Kyaukme, and home to the military’s northeastern command.
One Lashio resident who did not want to be named told AFP she heard artillery firing and airstrikes on Monday morning, but that the town had since been quiet, with some shops open.