Nearly 50,000 civilians have been forcibly displaced by heavy fighting in northern Myanmar, where an alliance of ethnic minority rebel groups launched a wide-scale offensive against military junta forces in late October, the United Nations said today.

“As of November 9, nearly 50,000 people in Shan State (north) have been forced to flee their homes,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, which referred to 23,000 forcibly displaced people just last week.

The fighting, which broke out near the border with China, characterized by analysts as an unprecedented military threat to the regime imposed by the February 1, 2021 coup by the generals.

Mydt Sue, Myanmar’s junta-appointed president, spoke of a threat of collapse of the country if the army could not restore stability, in a speech reproduced yesterday Thursday by state media.

An alliance formed by the armed organizations Taung National Liberation Army, Arakan Army and Democratic National Alliance of Myanmar announced how he took over military positions and roads.

The alliance said it captured above all the border town of Chinswehau, strategically important for trade with China — Burma’s most important trading partner ever.

The military junta confirmed that the city fell.

Dropper access to means of communication in this area, mountainous and largely covered by jungle, makes any attempt to verify the situation or the number of casualties in the hostilities difficult.

Clashes between the army and its rivals in two neighboring areas, Shanghaig District and Kachin State, caused the violent displacement of another 40,000 people in early November. the United Nations said.