Overview

• Ten days after the army retook the town, reporters documented charred government sites including the courthouse, police station and hospital, with care temporarily shifted to a nearby Chinese temple.
• Most of the roughly 46,000 residents have fled, while civilian homes appeared largely intact except near damaged official buildings.
• The Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the military trade blame for the destruction, with the TNLA alleging airstrikes and heavy weapons and the army accusing retreating rebels of sabotage.
• AP joined a military-supervised trip as the only foreign outlet, observing checkpoints staffed by newly drafted soldiers, unexploded ordnance near a monastery and front lines said to be about 32 kilometers away.
• Kyaukme sits on a key route to China and changed hands during a three-week battle that ended Oct. 1, and locals say recovery will lag until surrounding areas are secured as markets remain largely deserted.