In the jungles of southeastern Myanmar's Dawna Hills, rebels from an armed ethnic group are fighting to hold back columns of reinforcements sent by the country's ruling junta to try to reclaim Myawaddy, a critical trading outpost on the Thai border.
What happens in the next few weeks in the scramble for Myawaddy and other strategic locations in Myanmar could determine the next phase of a bloody conflict that has dragged on for more than three years and ultimately dictate the fate of the junta.
Myanmar has been plunged into chaos since a military coup in February, 2021 led to the rise of an armed resistance that is now working alongside ethnic minority rebel groups, some of which have been fighting the military for decades.