May 2022 - One Year On: The Momentum of Myanmar’s Armed Rebellion

of the junta in late April.62 These meetings occurred despite the PPST formally declaring an end to The Restoration Council for Shan State (RCSS),57 peace talks with the army.63 one of the largest groups in the PPST, was very vocal in publicly denouncing the coup and the Sit- Moreover, all members of the PPST, except the Tat’s violence, and its leader General Yawd Serk was CNF which has been engag. [...] situation by launching fierce offensives on army positions around the town of Mong Ko on the China A Twisted Road to Federal Army border.76 Although these clashes have made the Northern Shan State a hotbed of intensified conflict The varied and fluid responses of the ethnic after the coup, the main agenda of these northern armed groups to the military coup signified the groups is not to cooperate. [...] After the creation of the C3C, according Since the start of the armed rebellion, the to MOD officials, coordination among the key strategies that resistance forces have PDFs, collaboration between the PDFs and persistently applied are “denial” to block the allied EAOs, and cooperation with LDFs has junta’s expansion of power and “sabotage” to been smoother and effective.109 Due to the undermine it. [...] The whole theater hosts several battle thus refer to the Anyar theater as part fronts from the northern part of Sagaing to of a broad corridor connecting major the western part of Magway, and of these insurgents in the northern Kachin State and fronts, four areas are militarily significant; the western Rakhine State on the Bay of the northern part close to Kachin state, the Bengal seaboard, even c. [...] and Shwebo.132 The Sit-Tat’s current strategy Now, the PDFs have managed to survive is to deploy troops encircling the Shwebo the Sit-Tat’s massive offensives, and even valley, mainly Kyunhla in the north to cut off counterattack the military’s offensives at their the trickles of arms and support from the KIA, bases.