‘Potential for new Myanmar’ as anti-coup forces push new northern offensive

Fighting is escalating in an area stretching 280 kilometres (174 miles) from Mandalay to the city of Lashio, home of the military’s Northeastern Regional Command centre.

On June 25, an explosion shook the town of Mogok, in Myanmar’s central Mandalay region, sending Hla Su and her family rushing for shelter in a nearby trench. Over the next three days, they waited underground for the fighting to stop, but it only got worse.

“When the explosions subsided, I cooked quickly, but I couldn’t eat well. I was overwhelmed by stress and fear,” said the 34-year-old, who is from Myanmar’s ethnic Bamar majority. “The sound of air strikes made it impossible to sleep.”

She decided to flee, stopping only to pick up the family dog when it chased her down the street. “At three months pregnant and with a 12-year-old child, I found myself carrying our pet dog in front of the motorcycle, riding through Mogok to Mandalay with tears streaming down my face,” she said. “This was the reality of fleeing.”

Like others interviewed, she is using a pseudonym due to the risk of military reprisals.

Hla Su is one of about 41,000 people who have fled their homes since a new round of fighting broke out in the Mandalay region and northern Shan State in late June, according to the United Nations, which says three million people have been forced from their homes Myanmar, most of them since the 2021 military coup.