[Tee tiong huat]

War inches closer to Pyin Oo Lwin, a military haven. Persistent anti-junta offensives have brought resistance fighters closer to the ‘military town,’ which has been largely sheltered from the open violence perpetrated by the coup regime throughout the country.

While most of Myanmar is bakening in a scorching heatwave, temperatures have risen only moderately in Pyin Oo Lwin, 

Mandalay Region, a city 3,000 feet above sea level that is famous for its lush, shady forests, mild weather, and diverse abundance of flowers. T he settlement became an unofficial “summer capital” under the British—who gave the hill settlement the name “Maymyo”—and since independence has retained its reputation as a retreat from Mandalay, Yangon, and other lowland cities during the hot season.

Its also home to long-established military training facilities including the Defence Services Academy (DSA) founded in 1954, it is the military’s premier institution for officer training.

Until recently, the combined hill resort and garrison town had also been spared from the Myanmar regime’s escalating war with ethnic armed organisations and pro-democracy resistance forces.

Heightened security protects high-ranking junta officials said.