The fall of the army’s Northeast Command in the city of Lashio would be the biggest in a series of setbacks and a significant blow to Myanmar’s military government this year as an offensive launched by an alliance of powerful militias of ethnic minority groups continues to make broad gains in the country’s civil war.
The MNDAA had captured a regional military headquarters in Laukkaing, a key city on the Chinese border, earlier in the offensive, but the Lashio headquarters is more important.
“I would like to say that the government and the military will continue to do what should be done for the country and the people.” DAVID RISING, BANGKOK, MDT/AP
