The MNDAA themselves had to relinquish the major city of Lashio to the junta back in April after pressure from Chinese authorities. The military managed to keep troops resupplied and in recent months, reinforcements were flown in or travelled by ship to the embattled town. Yet the Karen army has also, during that period, overrun almost all SSPC bases along the Myanmar/Thailand border. In the Eastern Bago region, the AA continues to hold up repeated Myanmar military advances, often inflicting heavy casualties. Claiming the resistance is finished is just as irresponsible as breathless predictions of full regime collapse after Operation 1027.