2-12-2023 (YANGON) Myanmar’s junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, made a startling revelation on November 29, asserting that “foreign experts” were aiding ethnic minority armed groups in their extensive offensive against the military along the northern border with China.
In the wake of surprise attacks by an armed alliance of three ethnic minority groups in October, clashes have erupted across Myanmar’s northern Shan state. These groups have successfully captured numerous military positions and a strategically significant town crucial for trade with China, marking what analysts describe as the most significant military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021.
Min Aung Hlaing, in a statement released by the junta, claimed that “foreign drone experts” played a role in the attacks on military outposts in October in northern Shan state. He alleged that ethnic minority rebels utilised “drones with advanced technology” to target junta positions, though he did not provide specific details. The junta chief did not disclose the origin of these “foreign experts.”
The military, facing attacks from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, a member of the alliance, reportedly withdrew from certain positions. The alliance allegedly used drones to drop bombs, resulting in the death of a brigadier-general in Mongko near the China border on November 6, according to a military source cited by AFP.
Despite being a key arms supplier and ally of the junta, Beijing’s relationship with Myanmar has been strained recently due to the junta’s failure to crack down on online scam compounds that Beijing claims target Chinese citizens.
In a rare demonstration in Yangon earlier in November, protesters accused China of supporting the ethnic minority alliance, a move believed to be sanctioned by junta authorities. Beijing expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over the clashes in northern Shan state, an area housing vital oil and gas pipelines supplying China and a planned billion-dollar railway link.
Since overthrowing the democratic government in 2021, the military has grappled with armed resistance from civilian anti-junta People’s Defence Forces. The latest offensive, seizing towns and disrupting key trade routes to China, poses the most significant threat to the generals yet, with almost 200 civilians, including children, killed and nearly 335,000 people displaced since the offensive commenced on October 27, as reported by the United Nations.
