The Palaung State Liberation Front/Ta’ang National Liberation Army (PSLF/TNLA) has warned that upcoming peace talks with the junta are unlikely to yield results if the regime insists on reclaiming towns currently under TNLA control.
“The junta’s present position is still that townships such as Kyaukme, Nawnghkio, Mogok and Moemeik should be handed back. If they maintain that stance during the negotiations, then these talks are unlikely to produce any result. Only if the nature of the discussion changes, will they be different,” PSLF/TNLA spokesperson Lway Yay Oo said at a 5 August press conference on the group’s military and political situation.
The next round of talks is set for the end of August, though the exact date has not been confirmed. The negotiations will be held under Chinese mediation. They follow a previous meeting in Kunming from 28–29 April that ended without agreement.
At the Kunming talks, the junta delegation led by Lieutenant General Ko Ko Oo, head of Bureau of Special Operations 1, demanded that the TNLA withdraw from several townships and return to the Palaung Self-Administered Zone centred on Namhsan and Mantong. The TNLA, led by Lieutenant General Tar Gu Jar, rejected the proposal.
If the junta maintains its earlier position in the upcoming talks, the TNLA says it will push for key demands, including a ceasefire with no further military advances, a complete halt to all military operations such as airstrikes, artillery shelling, drone attacks, and ground offensives, and unrestricted delivery of essential supplies and medical aid to civilians in conflict zones.
The TNLA captured multiple towns during Operation 1027, including Mogok in Mandalay Region, and Naung Cho, Namtu, Kutkai, Namkham, Namhsan, Mantong, Monglon, Mongngawt, Moemeik, Kyaukme and Hsipaw in northern Shan State.
The junta later retook Nawnghkio, forcing the TNLA to relocate its administrative operations from the town to a safer area on 15 May before withdrawing completely. Following the takeover, junta troops advanced along the Nawnghkio–Mogok road, sparking ongoing clashes in recent days, according to the TNLA.
