The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: In a continued effort to take control of the country from the military Junta, the joint forces of Brotherhood Alliance have successfully cleared the entire Kokang region of the Shan state on January 4, according to news reports.
The Irrawaddy reported that almost 2,400 regime troops, “including six generals, have surrendered to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in the Kokang region”. This has been termed as “the largest single defeat of the Junta since the 2021 coup”. The January 6 report said 1,601 families have also surrendered to the MNDAA.
“The MNDAA said the whole of Kokang is a ‘regime-free zone” and marks the beginning of the end of the dictatorship,” it added.
Since the Operation 1027 began on October 27, 2023, MNDAA has seized over 300 Junta bases and around ten towns, including Laukkai, which also means controlling key trade routes of the country with its northern neighbour, China.
A Reuters report, citing the local media outlet Popular News Journal, said that on January 6, Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun announced that the military had decided to surrender after “great consideration”. The Irrawaddy report added that Zaw also told Popular News Journal that the decision was made to maintain relations with China. “The regime is under pressure from China to restore stability along the border.”
On January 3, while engaging with the MNDAA forces, the Junta is said to have used artillery, which injured Chinese citizens in that country’s Yunnan Province. It led Chinese deputy foreign minister Sun Weidong, ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai, and regional special envoy Deng Xijun to meet the Junta chief, Ming Aung Hlaing, in Naypyitaw on January 5.