YANGON: Almost 50,000 people have been displaced by fighting in northern Myanmar after an alliance of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive against the military two weeks ago, the United Nations said on Friday (Nov 10).
Fighting has raged for two weeks across northern Shan state near the Chinese border, in what analysts say poses the biggest military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army (AA) say they have seized dozens of military outposts and blocked vital trade routes to China.
“As of Nov 9, almost 50,000 people in northern Shan were forced into displacement,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in an update.