[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar military officers held by junta after surrendering town to opponents...not some. Six (6) were considered close to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, said another military source who also requested anonymity.

Laukkai is the largest town seized by the alliance – made up of three armed ethnic minority groups – since it launched attacks in October.

General Min Aung Hlaing made a name for himself in 2009 when, as a regional commander, he expelled one of the alliance groups, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), from the town.

The military then installed a militia that got rich producing drugs and selling a potent cocktail of gambling and sex to visitors from across the Chinese border.

Laukkai is also notorious for online scam operations where thousands of Chinese and other foreign nationals are often trafficked and forced to work defrauding their compatriots over the Internet.

The scams anger China, a major ally and arms supplier of the junta, and Beijing has repeatedly asked the military to crack down on the billion-dollar industry.

Analysts say Beijing maintains ties with ethnic armed groups along its border and likely knew in advance about the alliance’s October offensive, which has seized swathes of territory and blocked trade crossings with China.

The military and the alliance announced in January a China-mediated ceasefire, which both sides have since accused the other of violating. AFP
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asi...-opponents