Heavy clashes are underway between the junta and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) near Kyaukme town in northern Shan State, with the TNLA accusing the junta of using chemical bombs in airstrikes.

The TNLA fiercely resisted the junta’s advance toward its stronghold in Kyaukme Town, but by September 29, the fighting had reached within three miles of the town.

The junta used drones to bomb Hkomone Village following heavy clashes with the TNLA near Kyaukme town, a Kyaukme resident told the Shan Herald.

“Clashes have been happening from Longwei Village all the way to Namhu Village. Now the fighting is much closer, just three or four miles from Kyaukme. Some locals have already fled. On September 29, the junta dropped around five bombs from drones on the west side of Hkomone Village,” he said.

On September 28, the TNLA’s press office announced that the junta had dropped around 30 bombs, including 3 chemical bombs, on Longwei Village amid intense fighting.

According to the TNLA’s statement, the chemical bombs caused its troops to suffer symptoms including dizziness, vomiting, nausea, fatigue, and rapid breathing, with three soldiers requiring hospitalization.

On September 26, pro-junta propaganda Telegram channels, along with photographs, claimed that junta troops had advanced to within seven miles of Kyaukme town and retaken Sakhanthar Village, located on the main highway to the town.

On September 27, the junta launched arbitrary airstrikes and artillery shelling on Namhsawt Village in Kyaukme Township, despite no active clashes in the area, injuring a man in the leg and damaging corn fields.

Similarly, junta aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs on Pangthapyay Village near Monglon Town in Kyaukme Township in an unprovoked attack, damaging a monastery and destroying around 20 houses, the TNLA stated. 

Photo credit - CJ