Junta preparing major offensive to seize control of Mobye–Nan Mekhon–Demoso Road

Tensions are rising sharply along the border area between Mobye (Mongpai) Township in southern Shan State and Nan Mekhon Town in Karenni State, as junta forces prepare a major offensive aimed at securing control of the Mobye–Nan Mekhon–Demoso Road corridor. The buildup has triggered heightened military tensions with local Karenni resistance groups. A Karenni resistance commander told Shan Herald that the situation has turned increasingly volatile after the junta began preparing for an offensive from Mobye Township toward Nan Mekhon in Demoso Township on June 30. “Early this morning, Light Infantry Battalion 422 (LIB 422) based in Mobye started firing arbitrary artillery shells toward Nan Mekhon. This is the kind of thing the junta usually does whenever it is about to move troops. It looks like there are clear signs the junta is preparing to launch an offensive toward Nan Mekhon. As a result, tensions between both sides have escalated,” the frontline commander said. He added that since early 2026, junta forces have steadily increased their activities in Mobye Township and are now attempting to establish control over the entire Mobye–Nan Mekhon–Demoso Road. “At the moment, the junta has concentrated its forces in Mobye and has been continuously trying to advance toward Nan Mekhon. But our resistance forces have been strongly pushing them back. Now they are trying to regain full control of the highway from Mobye all the way to Demoso. That’s why they are preparing an offensive to retake Nan Mekhon and nearby villages,” he explained. Nan Mekhon lies almost exactly midway between Mobye to the north and Demoso to the south. The road connecting Mobye and Demoso is roughly 30 miles long, and Nan Mekhon sits along this key route. In July 2025, junta forces managed to recapture the Mobye–Loikaw Road, which had previously been under resistance control. Since then, resistance coalition forces have carried out counteroffensives against junta bases in the area, while the junta has responded with sustained artillery shelling and airstrikes targeting resistance positions in Mobye and Loikaw, the capital of Karenni State. On June 28, coalition resistance forces launched a surprise raid on a junta encampment near Mobye Town, killing one regime soldier, capturing two others alive, and seizing a number of weapons and ammunition, according to resistance sources.