BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-backed government says it has regained control of two towns near the country’s borders with India and Thailand, marking a significant advance in the civil war as it seeks to reassert control of regions long held by resistance forces.A report in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper on Thursday said Tonzang, near the border with India, was captured by the army on Wednesday after 10 days of operations to retake it. The paper published photos of soldiers who recaptured the town in front of the township’s administrative office and other departments.That report came a day after Myanma Alinn reported that the army on Tuesday retook control of Mawtaung, a strategically important border town for trade with Thailand, after a two-week operation.The army’s recapture of Tonzang in northwestern Chin state and Mawtaung in the southern Tanintharyi region come as the army has regained the upper hand in the nationwide conflict since mid-2025, after China-brokered ceasefires and a conscription-driven increase in troop numbers.
The moves also come a month after Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military-backed government, invited the country’s armed resistance groups to fresh peace talks.
