New Delhi: After a week-long conflict with pro-democracy forces, the Myanmar army has failed to seize control of the strategic town of Khampat in that country’s Sagaing region.Khampat, located in the Kabaw valley, is located close to the Indian state of Manipur. The town has historically been under the rule of the Burmese kings and the Manipur principality. During the division of territory between a British-ruled Manipur and the Burmese, the Kabaw valley had gone to Myanmar.In November, the anti-Junta groups had taken control of Khampat. In a statement released by Myanmar’s government in exile, the National Unity Government (NUG), the NUG-led people’s defence forces (PDFs) and the Kachin Independence Army jointly seized control of the town after a four-day fight with the Junta troops.A PDF personnel had told Myanmar Now that the resistance forces had “taken control of the entire town which included army camps, police stations, and Junta administrative buildings.”On December 18, a report in The Irrawaddy quoted the NUG and the Chin National Organisation to say that the Junta troops retreated from Khampat on December 16 after suffering heavy casualties.“The [Junta] soldiers retreated in small groups. Their morale was low,” Salai Lian Pi, a spokesperson for the Chin National Organization of the Upper Chindwin Region, told The Irrawaddy. “We are following them and ask residents [of the area] to stay away from junta troops,” he had added.The news report said the army had to face “an allied resistance by PDFs of the Sagaing region, the Chin National Defence Force, PDF-Zoland, and Chin Defence Force-Tonzang.”With the fight between the military and the pro-democracy forces escalating since October 27, a large swathe of people has been displaced across the country. According to a report by the United Nations, as of December 15, more than 6,60,000 have been displaced by the offensive named Operation 1027.The Irrawaddy, quoting from the UN report, said the surge in internally displaced people is besides at least 2.6 million people displaced across Myanmar since the February 2021 coup by the military.