"THE Irrawaddy online reported on August 31 the Myanmar junta’s warning to residents of Nay Pyi Taw, the centre of the military regime, that ‘resistance forces may attack Nay Pyi Taw at any time.’ The day before, a team of junta officials led by Nay Pyi Taw council member Colonel Min Naung held motivational interaction with villagers in the capital’s Pyinmana Township, calling for ‘solidarity between the government, military and people against the danger of the regime’s enemies at the gate. Before the regime could appreciate the potential danger from resistance forces, fighters from the People’s Defence Force had sneaked into the capital to attack the target of opportunities on hit-and-run tactics. The People’s Defence Force claims to have killed in April a local administrator, a police officer and two soldiers and seriously injuring a lieutenant colonel at a bar near a military base in Nay Pyi Taw. In March, two People’s Defence Force fighters were arrested before launching an attack on the Armed Forces Day Parade. In June, the force seized a military outpost near the capital and killed 14 soldiers in three days of operation. The People’s Defence Force claims to have killed in December 2021 a dozen junta troops in landmine blast at Pyinmana Township near the capital. In recent months, the media have reported combined operations by the People’s Defence Force and the ethnic armed organisation against the regime forces. Of the 14 states and regions, intense fights have been reported in 13 states and regions. The Arakan Army in Rakhine State has been on informal but long ceasefire with the military regime since the coup on February 1, 2021. Among the 13 regions and states, Sagaing has been the stronghold of resistance forces from the beginning of the coup. The regime forces sustained the worst losses here. People suffered the worst atrocities at the hands of the regime forces. Fights intensified in Shan, Kachin, Kayah, Chin and Mon states. The People’s Defence Force and ethnic armed organisations are reportedly gaining grounds in all states and regions, forcing the regime forces to take defensive tactics since July 2023. Air power has been the regime’s crucial weapon to slow down the advances of resistance forces. Indian Defence Research Wing online reported on September 1 that Myanmar Air Force has grounded all its 11 JF-17 Thunder fighter jets because of technical reasons. This has been a blow to the regime’s air power. The grounding of the whole squadron of fighters have significantly disrupted Nay Pyi Taw’s plan for targeted airstrikes against PDF and EAO positions. The United States in August imposed sanctions on three companies which supply jet fuel for Myanmar’s air force. The sanctions will further constrain the regime’s air power. The military junta has lost control over almost all of the Sagaing region and many townships in Magwe and Mandalay regions because of relentless daily attacks, land-mine ambushes, drone strikes, shelling, and hit-and-run attacks from resistance groups and ethnic armed organisations. An analyst has said, ‘the junta is no longer able to defeat resistance forces there, so its troops can only raid and torch villages.’ The regime’s aggravated cause of concern over the centre has been the fight that has broken out in Bago region barely 100 kilometres south of the capital. The war in the Bago region has created grave insecurity for the regime because the People’s Defence force and Myanmar’s oldest ethnic revolutionary group, the Karen National Union, combinedly increased attacks against the positions that the regime holds. Security analyst in Myanmar say that the junta was struggling to defeat the resistance because it has to focus on multiple front lines across the country. Human resource shortage and defection from rank and files are making regimes struggle tougher. ‘Bago Region has been regarded as an epicentre of revolutionary movements in Myanmar since the country achieved independence in 1948.’ The KNU has long been active in the eastern part of the Bago region. Now, the western part is also contested. The Central Bago region on the west of the Sittaung River basin, is strategically important both to the regime and resistance forces. The road through the region connects Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon and the Tanintharyi region in the south. PDF forces along with KNU is trying to gain a foothold in the area because it would give them control over vital gateways to Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw. The fight is continuing since July 2023. Control of the vital roadways could also isolate the south-eastern areas of the country, including Karen (Kayin) and Mon states and Tanintharyi Region..."