Three years on from Myanmar’s military coup, the junta is struggling to assert control

A group of rebel fighters train with Chin National Army in the western Chin province of Myanmar. The ruling junta remains mired in fierce battles, three years after seizing power. Photograph: Aakash Hassan/The Observer

Three years after seizing power, Myanmar’s junta is struggling to assert control, with humiliating losses in recent months and growing criticism of its leader, Min Aung Hlaing, by pro-military figures.

Images shared across social media show hauls of weapons seized from overrun military outposts in the north, exhausted soldiers surrendering en masse and even a military jet plunging from the sky after it was shot down. In one unprecedented image, brigadier general commanders are pictured raising a glass – apparently with their former enemies – after they were forced to concede defeat in the key town of Laukkai in northern Shan state, along with almost 2,400 men.