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Kyaukme town remains completely silent ten days after it was recaptured by Myanmar’s military government. schools have reopened but the city’s once busy market is mostly empty. At some stalls, vendors closed their stalls in panic after seeing the visiting journalists.
A once-thriving city in Myanmar’s Shan state is in shambles, an Associated Press journalist confirmed Friday in a rare visit to the war-torn region allowed by the country’s military government.
The local military allowed an AP photographer to join a visit monitored by Myanmar’s pro-military media, the only representative of foreign media allowed to do so. The military does not allow a free press and prevents journalists from freely entering conflict areas.
He saw the burnt debris of official buildings such as the court, police station and government residence. Much of the area around the city hospital was destroyed, with its operations temporarily transferred to a nearby location. Sugar Temple. At least one fire engine of the city was burnt.
But apart from damaged official buildings, civilian homes were mostly left unscathed, but most of the city’s original population of 46,000 had fled.
The ethnic militias that previously controlled the city accused the army of causing damage with airstrikes and heavy weapons, while government troops who captured the city said the militias destroyed structures as they retreated.
Due to its strategic location on the highway linking central Myanmar with China, Kyaukme has seen much fighting. The city, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, has seen two regime changes since the military ousted the elected government in 2021. Aung San Suu KyiThe beginning of the current civil war between the military government and a coalition of militias representing ethnic minorities and pro-democracy activists.
Amid a wave of victories for opponents of the military regime, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army captured Kyaukme in August 2024, apparently taking control of most of the country. The TNLA is a guerrilla army of the Palaung ethnic minority.
The city fell back into military government hands on 1 October after three weeks of fighting, in a significant victory for government forces.
The military has launched a series of successful attacks in recent months, ahead of elections scheduled for the end of the year. Critics say the elections will be neither free nor fair, but the military hopes a higher turnout will help legitimize the vote.
Before attacking Kyaukme, the army in July recaptured the town of Ngongkyo, which is considered the gateway to Myanmar’s heartland as it lies at the intersection of Myanmar’s eastern hills and its central plains.
From there to Kyaukme, 55 kilometers (33 mi), there are buildings damaged or reduced to rubble by bombs and bullets on both sides of the road.
Every 500 to 1,000 meters (yards) along the route stand army posts manned by newly recruited soldiers. A large bridge was damaged, but is still standing and undergoing repair.
Authorities blocked journalists’ access to some residential areas, which they described as dangerous.
“There are still landmines in parts of the neighborhood that have not been cleared,” said Captain Wai Yan Kyaw, stationed at one of the city’s gates.
Journalists observed unexploded ordnance, including a mortar shell, embedded in the ground inside the compound of a Buddhist monastery.
Locals who spoke to the AP said only a small part of the city’s population has returned since its recapture.
One resident who stayed behind during the fighting said the overwhelming majority fled after the fighting began last year, and those who stayed, like him, did so because they could not afford to leave. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid harassment by authorities.
Kyaukme is near the front lines of the army’s ongoing offensive, with soldiers saying they believe TNLA forces are in the hills only 32 kilometers (20 miles) away.
A motorbike taxi driver in his 30s, who spoke on condition of anonymity for his safety, said the city’s once-busy streets are now almost deserted, and he believes residents will not be willing to return until the army captures other nearby towns.
,People They are not willing to live near the front line,” said the driver, who returned on Tuesday.