Some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city in the central region, to Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in the north, are closed due to ongoing clashes, motorists traveling the route reported.

More than 200 junta troops and members of the allied Pyu-Saw-Htee militia are conducting operations along the Mandalay-Shwebo-Myitkyina Road and in roadside villages in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, sparking clashes with local resistance forces, resistance sources said.

The highway is currently closed due to the fighting, with the junta forcing all vehicles traveling from Mandalay to Myitkyina to turn back halfway, a motorist told NMG.

“All vehicles leaving Mandalay were ordered to turn back by the junta at Khin-U Town in Sagaing Region. The soldiers told us not to proceed because of the fighting ahead. We don’t know the situation for vehicles traveling from Myitkyina to Mandalay. They’re also stuck halfway, and we haven’t been able to contact them yet,” a driver said.

The junta and Pyu-Saw-Htee troops raided Ywarmaywarthit, Hteintaw, Ingardaunt, Thayettar, Kaingyoe, Kyeepinet, and Kyikyin villages in Kanbalu Township in the third week of August, burning more than 500 houses and murdering 27 local civilians, the Kyun Hla activist group reported.

Junta airstrikes and indiscriminate gunfire on vehicles traveling the highway also killed several motorists and passengers.

Public access to the Mandalay-Shwebo-Myitkyina Highway and other alternative routes is currently restricted by both the junta and resistance forces.

The junta and Pyu-Saw-Htee coalition troops began advancing along the highway in southern Kanbalu Township, west and south of Kanbalu Town, on August 16. By August 29, the troops had reached Thonesintkan and Ahlelsho villages on the border of Kanbalu and Khin-U towns, according to local sources.

After the junta announced it would hold an election on December 28, it has since significantly intensified its offensives to reclaim lost territories across Myanmar.