Following the collapse of Chinese brokered negotiations between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the junta on 29 April 2025, the junta launched a series of airstrikes on TNLA controlled areas.

China brokered talks between the junta and the TNLA were held on 28 and 29 April in the Chinese town of Kunming. But, they broke down on 29 April because the TNLA, unsurprisingly, refused the junta’s demands to hand back the northern Shan State towns of Naungcho, Kyaukme, Thibaw (Hsipaw) and Mogok Town in Mandalay Region that it has captured from the junta.

Following the failure of the negotiations, the junta launched airstrikes against the TNLA held towns of Naungcho in Naungcho Township, northern Shan State, and Mogok in Mogok Township, Mandalay Region.

On 30 April, junta aircraft dropped 250-pound bombs on the villages of Thitseingone and Kyaukpoke, just to the west of Mogok Town, according to a TNLA statement.

It also said that on 2 May an airstrike hit Mogok Town, killing one civilian and injuring another in Kathe Ward in the west of Mogok Town.

On 3 May it was the turn of Naungcho Town to be hit by a junta airstrike that destroyed six houses and a chapel in the town.

A Naungcho Town resident said: “Naungcho was bombed yesterday [3 May] and houses were damaged, but no one was hurt. I heard that Mogok was also bombed yesterday, and there were some casualties there.”

Not only did the junta resume airstrikes on TNLA-held towns following the collapse of the negotiations, it also deployed additional troops and increased patrols near TNLA-controlled areas.

The TNLA has urged people in areas that it controls to remain alert and is warning them that the junta is currently deliberately targeting civilian areas.