Myanmar rebels take control of the road to Mandalay in morale booster

Myanmar rebels take control of the road to Mandalay in morale booster


Main route: Muze city in Myanmar's northern Shan State

Main route: Muze city in Myanmar’s northern Shan State. Photo courtesy: AFP

Cutting through the lawless, rugged hills of northern Myanmar, National Highway 3 links a stunning series of victories by ethnic rebels and pro-democracy fighters in the war against the junta.

In an offensive launched a year ago, military opponents have captured the 480-kilometre-long route that links the second city of Mandalay with China.

Control of the road denies the junta lucrative taxes, threatens its bases in the central plains, and is a major morale boost for its opponents as the civil war runs into its fourth year.

The images show the destruction caused by last year’s fighting and rebel groups trying to hold on to their newly seized territory.

The route starts from Meuse, an infamous city bordering China. Every morning, hundreds of locals line up during the day to cross into China to buy consumer goods that can be resold in Myanmar. According to the junta’s commerce ministry, more than $2 billion in trade passed through the museum in the 2023–2024 fiscal year. But getting from the museum to the hinterland requires some savvy – and cash – said one driver.

About an hour from the Meuse is a checkpoint manned by soldiers from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, one of the rebel groups behind last year’s attack. About 30 km further is the city of Kutkai, where about 50,000 people live. The fighting that has pushed the army out has dispersed many of its residents.

About halfway up the highway, the city of Lashio marks the junta’s biggest defeat since seizing power in 2021. Lashio was famous as the terminus of the “Burma Road” built by the British during World War II. It is now the prize of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, an ethnic Chinese rebel group.

Near the end of National Highway 3, the former British hill station Pyin Oo Lwin is still in military hands.



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