A pro-junta propaganda Telegram channel claim that the junta has successfully retaken Nawngkhio (Naungcho) Town in northern Shan State from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has been shown to be false.

Shwe Nay Kyar, a pro-junta Telegram channel, reported on 21 November that “Nawngkhio [Town] has been recaptured. Ground troops have entered and taken control of the town after fighter jets carried out heavy bombing and machine gun attacks.”

At the time of reporting the post had been viewed by about 1,700 people and shared on Ye Yint Htet, another junta-aligned Telegram channel.

But, fact checkers from the Myanmar Fact-Checking Network (MFCN) have looked into these claims and found them to be false.

The TNLA reported that there was intense fighting between the TNLA and the junta in Nawngkhio Town on 16 November, five days prior to when junta claimed to have taken back the town.

Shan State-based media outlet Shwe Phee Myay reported that on 21 November, the day after Shwe Nay Kyar claimed that Nawngkhio had been taken back by junta forces, there was fierce fighting between the TNLA and junta forces in the villages of Kone Gyi and Kan Gyi about 20 miles from Nawngkhio Town.

SHAN also reported on 22 November that over the previous three weeks junta airstrikes on Nawngkhio Township had killed 17 civilians.

A Nawngkhio Township resident said: “Fighting is currently ongoing around Bantbway Village (in Nawngkhio Township), and the junta has been conducting airstrikes almost daily in recent days.”

When MCFN reached out to the TNLA and asked if the junta had retaken Nawngkhio Town, a TNLA press officer, Lway Yay Oo, said the junta had not retaken the town and that the TNLA still holds the town.

Also, no reputable local media has confirmed that the junta has recaptured Nawngkhio Town.

MCFN believes that its research shows that there is ongoing heavy fighting between the TNLA and the junta in Nawngkhio Township, but that the junta has not regained control of Naunhkio Town, meaning that the pro-junta Telegram channels are wrong when they say the the junta has retaken Nawngkhio Town.

MFCN is an organisation made up of 10 Myanmar independent media and civil society organisations. It monitors Myanmar social media posts and media to try to identify and counter misinformation and lies spread on social media and by media organisations.