Myanmar civil war nears Mandalay a year after rebel offensive

On the outskirts of Mandalay, nervous Myanmar soldiers man a checkpoint just kilometers away from rebels who have set their sights on the former royal capital of 1.5 million people.

Ethnic minority rebels and People's Defence Forces (PDF) battling to overturn the junta's 2021 coup are riding the wave of a huge offensive launched a year ago on Oct 27 in the hills of neighboring Shan state.

Weeks ago, residents could hear the sounds of clashes along the road that leads out of the country's second city.

"We are afraid of the fighting coming here but we have nowhere to hide," said a man who owns a food shop near the checkpoint and requested anonymity for security reasons.

Operation 1027, named for its start date, has ejected the junta from around 50,000 sq km - an area roughly the size of Bosnia - according to analysts and an AFP tally.

The spoils include a string of towns along a lucrative trade highway to northern neighbor China, along with most of western Rakhine state, home to a proposed Beijing-backed deep-sea port on the Indian Ocean.

Mandalay's capture by the British in 1885 ended the last independent Burmese kingdom, and its loss now would be a stunning blow to the junta.

Fighters from the Mandalay PDF - students, teachers and IT workers who fled the city years ago to join the struggle against the junta - are already in Patheingyi, about 5km from the city, according to the group's spokesman Osmond, who goes by one name.