Operation 1027
Operation 1027 is an ongoing military offensive conducted by the Three Brotherhood Alliance, a military coalition composed of three ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar: the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and Ta'ang National Liberation Army, allied with other rebel forces in the country, against the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's ruling military junta.
The joint rebel forces launched simultaneous attacks on multiple targets in northern Shan State, targeting the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Police Force, and other military installations along the border with China. The Brotherhood Alliance successfully took control of the strategically important Kokang Self-Administered Zone following their decisive victory in the Battle of Laukkai. The offensive has sparked rebel offensives outside Shan State and across the country, including the Rakhine Offensive in Rakhine State, Operations 1107 and 1111 in Kayah State, and other offensives in Sagaing Region and Chin State. Resistance forces across the country captured scores of towns, with the Brotherhood Alliance claiming by 28 November 2023 to have captured over 220 junta positions. The exiled civilian government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government, declared its support for the military offensive, and its armed wing, the People's Defense Force, has participated in military operations against regime forces.
The surprise offensive's series of victories against the military regime have led observers to call it "by far the most difficult moment" for the regime "since the early days of the coup." The regime has been unable to effectively respond to the wave of losses it has suffered, resorting to indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes to retaliate. The sides agreed to a ceasefire in December, but the agreement quickly collapsed. The sides agreed to another China-brokered ceasefire for northern Shan State on January 11, but following skirmishes and allegations that the regime had conducted airstrikes in violation of the ceasefire's terms, the ceasefire broke down in June as rebel forces resumed offensive actions.
Background
Ethnic rebellion and conflicts
The major rebel coalition that has fought during Operation 1027 is the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which is composed of three established anti-government ethnic armed organizations. One of these is the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, an ethnic armed organization whose members are of the Kokang Chinese ethnicity. The other two members of the group are the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, which operates in Shan State, and the Arakan Army that operates in Rakhine State.During Myanmar's conflict, the military has struggled to enforce its power over ethnic minority regions, as it mainly recruits from the Bamar majority population who are mostly unfamiliar with the language and landscapes of ethnic areas. To compensate, it has made deals with some local militias in which the militias agree to be subordinated as Border Guard Forces, but have retain large amounts of autonomy. In exchange for following the military's orders "to some extent", the leadership of these groups are able to run businesses.
Following two years of persistent efforts across various regions of Myanmar, the Myanmar military found its resources increasingly strained by late 2023. On 9 October 2023, the military attacked Mung Lai Hkyet base, three kilometers north of Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army, a close ally of the Brotherhood Alliance. KIA Lieutenant General Gun Maw stated in an interview that the conflict had been brought to the KIA's doorstep, necessitating a military counteraction.
Cyber-scamming in Myanmar since 2021
Due to the corruption within the Tatmadaw and the lack of their control on the borderland, many armed groups on both sides began in the fields of mining and trade, but moved towards more illicit business over time, like gambling and cyber-scamming, in which the latter gained the most attention. The cyber-scamming industry has particularly plagued Myanmar since the February 2021 coup. The military junta has worked with Chinese criminal gangs to traffic over 120,000 people into the country. These fraud factories have earned billions of dollars in revenue for the junta and the gangs that operate them. Criminal gangs have trafficked Chinese nationals and others including as Indian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, Tajik, Filipino and Kyrgyz people through various other Southeast Asian and Central Asian gangs.In Northern Myanmar, they were forced to work in inhumane and degrading conditions. According to Vietnamese charity organization Blue Dragon, trafficking victims were forced to work in scamming operations. They were held against their will and forced to sell their organs if they failed to meet quotas. The cyber-scamming militias have been a significant disturbance to Myanmar's neighbor China in particular, from where individuals have been led to Myanmar under false pretenses and then forced into fraud factories. As a result, China has exerted pressure on the regime to end the practice, and had been actively working with the Three Brotherhood Alliance to extricate individuals with pending Chinese warrants. According to an emergency meeting of the National Defense and Security council, the junta leader Min Aung Hlaing noted that long-standing tensions and scam call centers along the border were exacerbated by Chinese investment.
On 20 October 2023, a by prisoners at a cyber-scamming facility in Laukkai within the Kokang SAZ resulted in a massacre in which fleeing prisoners were killed by guards. The facility and the paramilitary forces were under the control of cybercrime ringleader and former pro-military member of parliament. Reports allege that upwards of 80 people were killed, and that four undercover Chinese police officers had been buried alive. This incident has been credited with forcing China to tacitly allow anti-junta forces to begin Operation 1027.
Timeline
Operation 1027 (Phase 1)
October 2023
27 October
The Three Brotherhood Alliance released a joint statement declaring the start of Operation 1027 on 27 October 2023. The alliance had the combined capability to draw on 15,000 troops. The statement detailed the primary objectives of the operation, being to:- Safeguard the lives of civilians
- Assert right to self-defence
- Maintain control over territory
- Respond resolutely to ongoing artillery attacks and airstrikes perpetrated by the State Administration Council
- the oppressive military rule
- the widespread online gambling fraud that has plagued Myanmar, particularly along the China–Myanmar border
The regime responded with aerial bombardments and heavy shelling. The SAC's spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun confirmed that fighting had occurred near Hsenwi and some security police stations and militia stations were destroyed. He also admitted that some security forces personnel were killed and injured, but did not provide an exact number. According to Al Jazeera, the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that about 20 soldiers were killed in an attack on one of the customs offices in Chinshwehaw. A member of Luakkiang's police force reported that 17 police officers were killed after the MNDAA attacked checkpoints. The Bamar People's Liberation Army stated it was involved in the operation alongside the Brotherhood Alliance, which has been training BPLA fighters.
The AA engaged in multiple skirmishes with junta forces in Htigyaing Township, a township bordering northwestern Shan State in Sagaing Region. The AA claimed multiple junta casualties after clashes south of Mt. Mawkun.
Nine rebel groups raided a military checkpoint on the Taungtha-Myingyan road in the Taungtha Township. The groups used drones to bomb the base before their assault, and claimed to have killed 20 junta troops. Other rebels ambushed a junta convoy bringing reinforcements, but were forced to withdraw.
A child and a woman were killed and at least 5 others were injured due to an artillery strike on Namphatka village in Kutkai Township.
28 October
According to rebel sources, the MNDAA ambushed junta soldiers coming from Hopang and seized three junta outposts — two of them near the China-Myanmar border in the town of Mong Ko. They also claimed to have defeated paratroopers dropped near Chinshwehaw and captured paradropped weaponry. The TNLA claimed to have seized three outposts in Namhkam Township and two outposts in the Lashio area. Junta spokespeople acknowledged losing certain outposts and expressed their desire for peace and stability.About 600 IDPs from Lashio were displaced by heavy weapons and gunfire through the 27th and 28th. Clashes disrupted roads and villages near Lashio, including the Hopaik toll gate on the Lashio-Muse Highway. However, Lashio itself remained mostly untouched. The Mandalay-Lashio road and the Hopaik Toll Gate, which saw fighting on the 27th, returned to normal on the 28th. Fighting, however, continued to occur further away from Mandalay towards Kyaukme, Hsenwi, and Kutkai.
29 October
Clashes in Htigyaing Township continued into 29 October with the junta dispatching air force planes to engage in the area.A TNLA-led force, alongside Mandalay PDF forces, attacked a junta camp in Kyaukkyan village, three miles from the town of Nawnghkio. The junta retreated from the camp, moving towards a missile site on the Nawnghkio-Yetsawk road. At the same time, another rebel contingent attacked and captured junta personnel on the Goktwin Bridge on the Nawnghkio-Kyaukme road near the Goteik viaduct cutting off access along the Mandalay-Muse Union Highway. Other TNLA and PDF groups attacked a military unit near Ahtet Nyaung Kone, in Mogok Township.