(Based on staff posts from the MYANMAR NOW MEDIA in March 2025.)
Taung-Kham Village in Shan-State-North’s Naung-Cho
Township is the doorway to the most important Military Town of Pyin-Oo-Lwin
where the DSA (Defense Services Academy), the DSTA (Defense Services Technical
Academy), and the DSMA (Defense Services Medical Academy) of universally-hated
Myanmar Army are situated.
Only about fifty miles from the crucial Military-Academies-Town
Pyin-Oo-Lwin, Taung-Kham also is on the Naung-Cho to Yart-Sout Strategic
Highway connecting the Shan-State-North already in the victorious ethnic
resistance armies’ hands and the Shan-State-South still in the failing Myanmar
Army’s hands.
Once Taung-Kham is controlled by the Palaung Army (TNLA), Pyin-Oo-Lwin would soon be bombarded by TNLA’s heavy artillery just before the infantry assault by combined TNLA and Mandalay-PDF troops.
Also the victorious ethnic armies could march down
to the Doat-Hta-Waddy River and then straight down to Yart-Sout, Shwe-Nyaung,
and then all way to Taung-Gyi the Shan-State-South’s Capital City. The whole
Shan State is on the verge of falling into the rebel hands.
Beginning of The Taung-Kham Battle
Taung-Kham Village and the surrounding hills are
the main artillery hub of Myanmar Army in Shan-State-North as the Artillery-Command-HQ-902
and its three artillery battalions (AB-354, 206, and 506) are all stationed
there.
Taung-Kham and Pyin-Oo-Lwin together are strategically
important as the artillery based in Pyin-Oo-Lwin can support Taung-Kham and the
Taung-Kham artillery can easily smash Pyin-Oo-Lwin into submission if the
Palaung Army (TNLA) captures Taung-Kham. The TNLA and allied PDF troops started
attacking Taung-Kham in Mid-August last year. On 28-August the AB-206 and
AB-406 fell into TNLA’s hands.
TNLA Nearly Captures Taung-Kham
Since Taung-Kham is the gathering point of Myanmar
Army driven out or retreated from the fallen Shan-North there are thousands and
thousands of Army troops facing the attacking thousnads and thousands of TNLA
and PDF troops.
As Taung-Kham was falling and Pyin-Oo-Lwin was
seriously threatened Myanmar Army has started moving the military academies from
Pyin-Oo-Lwin to much-safer Nay-Pyi-Daw down south.
Despite the near-capture of Taung-Kham and all
artillery bases the TNLA had failed to secure the Taung-Kham to Pyin-Oo-Lwin
Road and Taung-Kham to Yart-Sout Highway. Thus Myanmar Army was able to continuously
reinforce Taung-Kham and stage a massive counter-offensive against TNLA and PDF
troops.
Myanmar Army’s Counter Offensive
Since Myanmar Army has massive stockpiles of artillery
and advanced War-drones imported from Russia and China at both Pyin-Oo-Lwin and
Yart-Sout military cantonments, the heavy weapon and aerial advantages are heavily
on the side of Myanmar Army. At some points during the months-long battle some
fifty armed-drones were seen hovering over Taung-Kham and dropping bombs after
bombs at the rebel positions days after days.
The military fired thousands of heavy shells and sent
in hundreds of attack-drones every day and basically shaved the top soils off
all the hills in Taung-Kham region. In October-2024 Myanmar Army retook the
fallen artillery battalions and at the end of February this year after 90 days
of heavy battle with hundreds and hundreds of casualties from both sides, Taung-Kham
was retaken from the TNLA by the Myanmar Army.
As the battle of Taung-Kham was the only significant victory Myanmar Army has ever against the Rebel Armies so far, Dictator Min Aung Hlaing’s Military Government is staging a propaganda warfare all over Myanmar. Following videos are those propaganda videos flooding the You-Tube and Tick-Tock channels.
