‘Potential for new Myanmar’ as anti-coup forces push new northern offensive

TNLA soldiers mobilise on June 24, a day before fighting resumed in the area following the collapse of a China-brokered ceasefire [Courtesy of Shwe Phee Myay]

On June 25, an explosion shook the town of Mogok, in Myanmar’s central Mandalay region, sending Hla Su and her family rushing for shelter in a nearby trench. Over the next three days, they waited underground for the fighting to stop, but it only got worse.

“When the explosions subsided, I cooked quickly, but I couldn’t eat well. I was overwhelmed by stress and fear,” said the 34-year-old, who is from Myanmar’s ethnic Bamar majority. “The sound of air strikes made it impossible to sleep.”