Anti-junta fighters seize three junta bases near Kachin State capital

Fighting is ongoing in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State after the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allies seized three junta bases on Tuesday, according to local sources and a KIA spokesperson. The KIA-led alliance of forces initiated simultaneous assaults on the 13-Mile Gate camp, Bum Taung camp, and Sadung Junction camps near the Waingmaw-Sadung-Kan Paik Ti road at around 5am on Tuesday morning, according to the KIA’s spokesperson. They succeeded in capturing all three bases within a few hours, but some exchanges of fire with junta forces have continued nearby, he added. “Currently, we have control of three camps. We attacked them this morning. The fighting has continued around the captured camps," KIA information officer Col. Bu told Myanmar Now on Tuesday afternoon. The numbers of junta troops manning the camps, as well as the casualties among both the junta and KIA-led forces, are still unknown. All three junta outposts seized by the KIA-led forces are located between 13 and 20 miles east of Waingmaw on the Chipwe-Kan Paik Ti road. The last of the camps to be captured is around 18 miles from Kan Paik Ti, a trade hub on the China-Myanmar border, where the junta operates a checkpoint. During the fighting, the junta fired on the site of battle using heavy artillery from its bases in Waingmaw and on the opposite bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River. Residents of War Shawng village, located some two miles from the 13-Mile Gate camp, said they noticed junta aircraft conducting reconnaissance at around 9am. "After Gate 13 was seized, a junta jet and a light aircraft flew in,” said a resident of War Shawng village, “After that, the sounds of gunfire subsided. I only heard two shots after two or three more hours of silence.” “If the junta has lost control of their bases, it may be very dangerous to stay here at night,” he added, referring to the possibility of airstrikes, shelling, or other retaliation by the military. Damages and casualties Nang Lai Sothu, 57, was killed at around 12:30pm on Tuesday when a heavy artillery shell landed near her home in Waingmaw’s Theingyizu Ward. The previous day, another heavy artillery shell injured seven civilians when it struck the village of Hkat Shu, villagers said, and a 26-year-old man named Thar Nge later died of his injuries at Waingmaw Hospital. Villagers also said that a drone bombing by the junta had destroyed a Christian church in La Myan village on the Waingmaw-Sadung road. Col. Naw Bu said the junta’s shelling of civilian areas was indiscriminate, noting that there had been no recent fighting in most of the areas where their artillery shells hit. “They fired whether or not there were battles happening. Yesterday they opened fire on Hkat Shu where there had been no fighting,” Col. Naw Bu said on Tuesday. “There were No KIA troops there. They just fired indiscriminately.” “We had no personnel at that church, and neither did other armed groups,” he added. . The military council has not responded to Myanmar Now’s requests for comment on the alleged indiscriminate shelling. Some villages are requesting assistance for internally displaced persons (IDPs) forced to flee their homes amid the fighting and shelling, according to War Shawng village’s abbot Ven. Wizaya, who assists IDPs. “The villages are close to an IDP camp, so they approached me and asked for help," Ven. Wizaya explained. “They're considering whether to flee or remain in the villages.” He added that the resources needed to assist displaced people are running low, as clashes in Waingmaw Township have been ongoing since Monday. The KIA has also captured military base camps in the nearby Tanai Township in the past month, including the Nam Byu base, a key access point to amber and gold mines in the surrounding area. The KIA and allied forces have waged a sustained offensive against junta forces in Kachin State and other areas of Myanmar for more than two months. They have captured more than 100 junta bases during the campaign, and have taken over several towns including Mabein in northern Shan State as well as Injangyang, Sinbo, Sumprabum, and the border trade hub of Lwegel in Kachin State.

Anti-junta fighters seize three junta bases near Kachin State capital

While casualty figures for the fighting forces are still unknown, heavy artillery shelling over two days of clashes in Waingmaw Township resulted in at least two civilian deaths

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