This month, Myanmar troops in the town of Laukkai near the Chinese border surrendered to a coalition of ethnic rebel groups after weeks of clashes. About 2,000 soldiers surrendered and were allowed to leave the town with their families.

Six brigadier generals in command in the Laukkai area have been arrested, a military source told AFP . It is not yet clear whether all six will be prosecuted or what charges they may face, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The six brigadier generals have not been sentenced yet," military spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP on January 23.

Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang region bordering China's Yunnan province, is the largest town to fall to the rebel alliance - made up of three ethnic armed groups - since it launched attacks in October 2023.

Laukkai is a hub for drug production and online fraud, with thousands of Chinese and other foreigners lured here and forced to work defrauding their compatriots online, AFP reported.

This month, the regular army and the rebels – the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) – announced a China-brokered ceasefire. But both sides have since accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

The MNDAA once controlled Laukkai but was driven out of the town by regular troops in 2009.