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Agence France-Presse

One of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed opposition factions has agreed to a China-brokered withdrawal from a lucrative ruby mining hub, the group said on Wednesday.
Myanmar has been mired in a civil war since the military grabbed power in a 2021 coup, with the junta fighting an array of pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic minority armed groups.
The ragtag opposition initially struggled to make headway before organising a combined offensive in late 2023 that seized huge swathes of territory.
The northern ruby-mining town of Mogok was captured by rebels last summer, but the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) – the most powerful group driving that offensive – said it will now pull out.

The TNLA said in a statement on Telegram it had made a deal with the junta after two days of talks that ended on Tuesday, overseen by a Chinese special envoy in the city of Kunming in southern China.
According to the deal, the group will pull out of the townships of Mogok and neighbouring Momeik.
The statement did not specify a time frame but said the military had agreed to halt air strikes, while “troops from both sides will stop advancing” from midnight on Wednesday.
A Myanmar junta spokesman could not be reached for comment.
China is a key power broker in Myanmar’s civil war, analysts say, supporting both opposition groups and the junta on a sliding scale according to its economic and security interests.


Some conflict monitors say the offensive during which Mogok was captured had at least Beijing’s tacit backing, as China grew weary of the junta’s inaction over internet scam centres that seed chaos along their border.
However, China has more openly backed the junta this year as it battles to regain ground ahead of an election scheduled to start in December, which it is touting as a path to stability.
The polls are set to be blocked from vast rebel-held enclaves, and numerous international monitors have dismissed them as a ploy to disguise continuing military rule.
However, Beijing has given its backing in diplomatic rhetoric and on the ground.
The northern city of Lashio – the junta’s most significant territorial loss since the start of the civil war – was handed back to the military in April after Chinese mediation.


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Myanmar rebels agree to China-brokered pull-out from ruby mining town

Members of ethnic rebel group Ta’ang National Liberation Army take part in a training exercise at their base camp in the forest in Myanmar’s northern Shan State in 2023. Photo: AFP

Miners panning for rubies and other gemstones in a ruby mine in Mogok, Myanmar. Photo: AFP

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends the Asean-United Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday. Photo: EPA

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Myanmar soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint in northern Shan state on October 10. Photo: AP

Myanmar junta forces pose for a photo in front of a captured police station in Kyaukme, a town in the northern part of Shan state that resistance forces had controlled for more than a year, earlier this month. Photo: Myanmar’s military/AP

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Men check for names on an officially published eligible-voter list at a ward administrative office in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on September 30. Photo: AP

People gather around an officially published eligible-voter list to check names at a ward administrative office in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on September 30. Photo: AP

Asean members’ flags at a Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Langkawi Island, Malaysia, in January. Photo: EPA-EFE

Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has said it will not be possible to hold the election nationwide. Photo: AFP

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Students attend school in a concrete bunker at a village in the Sagaing region on August 15. Photo: AFP

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Farmers plant rice in a paddy field at night to avoid daytime attacks and air strikes from the Myanmar military in the Sagaing region on August 16. Photo: AFP

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Southeast Asia

Rebels abandon key areas Mogok and Momeik after Beijing-led talks, signalling a shift in the civil war’s dynamics


Rebels abandon key areas Mogok and Momeik after Beijing-led talks, signalling a shift in the civil war’s dynamics.


Myanmar rebels agree to China-brokered pull-out from ruby mining town

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rebels abandon key areas Mogok and Momeik after Beijing-led talks, signalling a shift in the civil war’s dynamics

Rebels abandon key areas Mogok and Momeik after Beijing-led talks, signalling a shift in the civil war’s dynamics