Mandalay, Myanmar — On the outskirts of Mandalay, nervous Myanmar soldiers man a checkpoint just kilometers away from rebels who have set their sights on
the former royal capital of 1.5 million people.
“Operation 1027”, named for its start date, has ejected the junta from around 50,000 square kilometers — an area roughly the size of Bosnia — according to analysts and an AFP tally. Fighters from the “Mandalay PDF” — students, teachers, and IT workers who fled the city years ago to join the struggle against the junta — are already in Patheingyi, about five kilometers from the city, according to the group’s spokesman Osmond, who uses one name.
In the city’s bustling, dusty downtown there are few soldiers on the streets and police rarely venture out from stations barricaded with concrete and sandbags. The terrain is “prime territory” for the junta to press its advantages in air power and artillery, he said, while fighting in a sprawling, urban area is a complication.
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