Armed ethnic alliance in northern Myanmar is said to have seized a city that was a key goal

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — An alliance of ethnic armed groups in northeastern Myanmar has reportedly achieved one of the main goals it set when it launched an offensive last October by taking control of Laukkaing, a key city on the border with China. Local residents and independent media accounts said the Three Brotherhood Alliance took control of Laukkaing late Thursday after forces of the country’s military government reportedly laid down their arms and were allowed to withdraw. It is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmar’s military government since the offensive was launched, as it battles pro-democracy guerrillas and other ethnic minority armed groups across the country.