Myanmar's Three Brotherhood Alliance, a coalition of ethnic armed groups that's been carrying out a coordinated offensive against the Hauntas since late October, has seized full control of the towns of Namstan and Namcan in northern Shan State. One of the alliance's three member organizations, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, claimed this week that they had finally seized the towns after weeks of intense fighting with Hauntas troops. TNLA captured Namstan at around 3pm on Friday, after besieging and fighting for an army base west of the towns urban area for several days. The Hauntas aerial and artillery attacks continued throughout the battle, reportedly killing six local residents and destroying nearly 50 civilian houses in less than a week. The clashes forced virtually all civilian residents of Namstan to flee their homes. Footage captured at the Sakhantit Hill base shows the TNLA fighters raising their organizations flag and mid-destroyed and bullet-riveled hunter fortifications, as well as weapons and ammunition that have now been captured by the ethnic armed group. The TNLA claimed that more than 60 hunter troops had also been killed in the fighting, and that they had taken another 60 soldiers into custody and were providing shelter to their families. On Monday night, just three days after taking Namstan, the TNLA also stormed the last remaining Hauntas outpost in Namkam Township, which is located on the main trade route to the China Myanmar border and has a population of more than 100,000. The three brotherhood alliance has captured schools of Hauntabases and several towns along the Myanmar China border in the nearly two months since it launched its anti-Huunta offensive campaign, known as Operation 1027. Meanwhile, Huunta troops have gathered in the northern Shan State border town of Mew since last week, evidently preparing to fight back against the alliance as it continues to advance in the surrounding townships. Of all the strategic targets the alliance has managed to see since the start of its offensive, none match the importance of Mews. The TNLA nearly 90% of all cross-broad trade with China, which has valued up more than 2 billion USD in the first half of the current fiscal year. The town handles nearly 90% of all cross-border trade with China, which has valued up more than 2 billion USD in the first half of the current fiscal year.