Residents who fled the recent heavy fighting in Mongmit (a.k.a Momeik) Township, northern Shan State are starting to return now that it's under Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) control.

The TNLA took control of Mongmit Town on 31 July 2024, meaning that it now controls all of Mongmit Township.

Members of local people’s defence forces (PDFs) allied to the TNLA have begun welcoming back residents using a verification process they have established to ensure security and stability in the area.

A local resident said to KNG: “The junta's presence in Mongmit Town is no more. Only a few TNLA combatants remain garrisoned in the town, while most of the People's Defense Force (PDF) members are deployed. PDF-Mongmit is primarily handling the process of verifying and accepting returning evacuees. Now, quite a number of locals have returned home.”

In the last few days over a thousand residents have returned to Mongmit Town. But, government employees who worked under the junta and their families were not among the returnees, according to locals.

There is also concern for the safety of Mongmit residents because junta airstrikes have escalated in other northern Shan State townships, such as Kutkai, Laukkai, and Hsenwi (a.k.a Theinni), since the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the TNLA, took control of them.

Another resident of Mongmit said: “There is no guarantee of security to carry out the rebuilding efforts peacefully. Now the junta is conducting airstrikes even in Kutkai and Laukkai, where the situation is said to be calm. So, I don't think townships like Mogok and Mongmit will escape the junta's crosshairs.”

All phone lines and internet networks are currently down in downtown Mongmit and the surrounding areas. However, mobile services from the junta-linked carrier, ATOM (formerly Telenor), are still available in some villages about 10 miles away.

A TNLA led coalition of resistance forces captured Mongmit as part of the second phase of Operation 1027. The revolutionary forces’ offensive to gain control of the town caused damage to downtown areas of Mongmit and villages around the town, such as Myaukpaing, Letkhoketan, Doepin, and Taungkaing.

The roads from Mongmit Town to Madaya Township in Mandalay Region and Twinnge Village in Thabeikkyin Township in Mandalay Region are under the control of revolutionary forces who have closed them to all users. Roads from Mongmit Town to Mogok and Kyaukme townships in northern Shan State, and to Manton and Mabein townships in eastern Shan State, remain open but with some limitations on travel.

In January 2024 there was heavy fighting between the junta and joint resistance forces led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) around Mongmit Town. The resistance forces took control of parts of Mongmit Town, but later they had to retreat from their positions in the town.

The TNLA resumed fighting the junta on 29 June 2024 as part of the second phase of Operation 1027, which re-started after the collapse of a Chinese brokered ceasefire.