An alliance of ethnic armed groups in northeastern Myanmar has reportedly achieved one of the main goals it set when it launched an offensive last October by taking control of Laukkaing, a key city on the border with China.
BANGKOK (AP) — An alliance of ethnic armed groups in northeastern Myanmar has reportedly achieved one of the main goals it set when it launched an offensive last October by taking control of Laukkaing, a key city on the border with China, according to local residents and independent media accounts on Friday.
The city’s fall to the alliance is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmar’s military government since the offensive was launched, underlining the pressure it is under as it battles pro-democracy guerrillas and other ethnic minority armed groups across the country.
A Laukkaing resident who lives two miles away from the headquarters told The Associated Press that it had fallen into the hands of the MNDAA after the soldiers stationed there laid down their weapons.
Another Laukkaing resident, who also asked not to be named for safety reasons, said an officer in the regional command confirmed in text messages with her that it had given up the fight in part because of the burden of caring for many wounded soldiers in the hospital in the headquarters compound.
When the alliance launched its offensive, it cast it as a battle against military rule and an effort to rid the region of major organized criminal enterprises, including cyberscam operations controlled by Chinese investors in collusion with local Myanmar warlords, especially in Laukkaing.
Peng Deren, the MNDAA commander, said in a New Year’s speech published by The Kokang, an affiliated online media site, that the alliance had seized over 250 military targets, five border crossings with China and arrested about 1,000 prisoners of war.
The original article contains 741 words, the summary contains 266 words. Saved 64%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
BANGKOK (AP) — An alliance of ethnic armed groups in northeastern Myanmar has reportedly achieved one of the main goals it set when it launched an offensive last October by taking control of Laukkaing, a key city on the border with China, according to local residents and independent media accounts on Friday.
The city’s fall to the alliance is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmar’s military government since the offensive was launched, underlining the pressure it is under as it battles pro-democracy guerrillas and other ethnic minority armed groups across the country.
A Laukkaing resident who lives two miles away from the headquarters told The Associated Press that it had fallen into the hands of the MNDAA after the soldiers stationed there laid down their weapons.
Another Laukkaing resident, who also asked not to be named for safety reasons, said an officer in the regional command confirmed in text messages with her that it had given up the fight in part because of the burden of caring for many wounded soldiers in the hospital in the headquarters compound.
When the alliance launched its offensive, it cast it as a battle against military rule and an effort to rid the region of major organized criminal enterprises, including cyberscam operations controlled by Chinese investors in collusion with local Myanmar warlords, especially in Laukkaing.
Peng Deren, the MNDAA commander, said in a New Year’s speech published by The Kokang, an affiliated online media site, that the alliance had seized over 250 military targets, five border crossings with China and arrested about 1,000 prisoners of war.
The original article contains 741 words, the summary contains 266 words. Saved 64%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!