Clashes escalate in southern Kachin State as anti-junta forces push to take Bhamo

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has been leading anti-regime forces in a series of intensifying attacks since last week on the strategically important, junta-controlled town of Bhamo, Kachin State, according to the KIA.Fighting between the KIA and the Myanmar military has continued in Bhamo since resistance forces attacked and seized junta positions on the outskirts of the town on December 4. “The fighting is still ongoing in Bhamo, but we haven’t been able to capture all of our enemy’s bases yet,” KIA spokesperson Col. Naw Bu told Myanmar Now. Eight columns of anti-regime forces launched assaults on several junta outposts along the route between Bhamo and Mansi to the southeast, a source close to the KIA said. Under the command of the KIA, resistance forces such as the Kuki National Army, Kachin People’s Defence Force, All Burma Student Defence Force and Gurkha Battalion also took part in the offensive. A source close to the KIA claimed the anti-regime groups have opened up battlefronts throughout Bhamo District as well as in northern Shan State since last week. In Kachin State, the battlefronts included Bhamo, Mansi, and Shwegu, while in northern Shan State, the fighting occurred near Ngar Oe village in Mabein Township.“The current situation is good for us,” the source told Myanmar Now, referring to the ongoing fighting. “We have to seize control of all these locations to gain a military advantage.” Last week, many civilians were trapped inside Bhamo amid intense fighting and heavy shelling from both sides. A spokesperson for the Kachin Human Rights Group told Myanmar Now that the escalation has “triggered the highest civilian casualties in Kachin State,” since Operation 1027, an offensive first launched in 2023 by the Brotherhood Alliance, a grouping of anti-junta ethnic armed organisations based in northern Shan State.“As far as we know, at least 20 people, including children, have been killed in the fighting,” the spokesperson said. The military also conducted airstrikes on civilian and resistance targets in an attempt to stop anti-junta forces from successfully taking the town. Photographs posted on social media show displaced people fleeing Bhamo using motorcycles and boats to cross the Ayeyarwady River. Some residents were caught in the crossfire as KIA troops entered the area, according to local sources. A woman who escaped the violence with her family told Myanmar Now that the situation for civilians was extremely dangerous.“My brother said bullets were flying over his head,” the woman added. “But he managed to reach a safe location.”

Clashes escalate in southern Kachin State as anti-junta forces push to take Bhamo

At least 20 people, including children, have been killed in the ongoing offensive since last week.

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