Gokteik Bridge, Myanmar’s highest rail crossing, destroyed in civil war

Myanmar’s war is the product of a long and violent history. The country spent decades under military rule, from 1962 until 2011, when it began a slow transition toward democracy. A nominally civilian government was formed, and in 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a historic landslide election. But the military never gave up real power. In 2021, it seized control again in a coup, cutting short Myanmar’s democratic experiment.

The coup was met with nationwide protests, which the junta crushed with deadly force. Civilians responded by forming armed resistance groups—known as People’s Defence Forces—and by allying with long-established ethnic militias like the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Today, the junta is fighting on multiple fronts.

A BBC study estimates the military controls only 21 percent of Myanmar’s territory. It has been accused of bombing schools and hospitals, burning villages, carrying out massacres, and torturing critics. Even within pro-military circles, calls have grown for the resignation of Min Aung Hlaing, the junta’s leader, though he has shown no signs of stepping down.

In a video statement, junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun accused the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and allied people’s defence forces of having “bombed and destroyed” the bridge, adding that explosives were used to bring it down.

The TNLA denied this, and in turn accused the junta of responsibility. “[The] Myanmar army tried to bomb our bases … this morning by using drones,” said TNLA spokesperson Lway Yay Oo. “They bombed our troops, but their bomb also hit Gokteik bridge.”

The destruction comes after weeks of clashes in Shan State, where junta forces and the TNLA have battled for control of nearby towns.

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