Clashes intensify in Kachin State as Myanmar army moves to regain ground

Fierce clashes broke out in Momauk Township, Kachin State on Monday when junta forces advanced into the township from their base in Bhamo and initiated assaults on anti-junta Kachin fighters, local sources said. A massive convoy of trucks and armoured vehicles moved towards the army’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 437 base in Momauk Township, according to residents of the township, meeting and clashing with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which controls most of the township excluding the battalion base. The resulting battles lasted throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday between the sixth and seventh milestones on the Momauk-Bhamo road, about midway between the two towns’ urban centres, according to KIA spokesperson Col. Naw Bu. “Our ground forces reported that they were fending off the assaults. We haven’t heard whether there have been airstrikes yet but there has been heavy artillery firing on them,” Col. Naw Bu confirmed. He added that the KIA ground forces had not confirmed the number of casualties on either side. “They fired heavy artillery shells yesterday and have been shelling again today since lunchtime,” a local man said on Tuesday evening, referring to the junta forces. “The situation seems quite serious, considering they have armoured vehicles and also based on the noise we’ve been hearing,” he added. Hostilities escalated between the KIA and junta forces in Kachin State’s Momauk and Mansi townships in early May of this year, with the KIA ultimately taking control of Momauk’s urban centre and leaving only the LIB 437 base in regime forces’ hands. However, the fighting on Monday was the first to break out in the area in weeks, as no clashes had occurred in KIA-controlled areas of Mansi and Momauk townships throughout the month of June. The junta still controls the LIB 601 and 319 bases in Mansi Township as well as the LIB 437 base in Momauk Township. The KIA began launching a series of assaults on regime forces in Kachin State and neighbouring parts of northern Shan State in March of this year after a Beijing-brokered ceasefire brought a temporary halt to Operation 1027—a sweeping coordinated offensive campaign launched by other anti-junta groups in October 2023. As of late May, the powerful Kachin ethnic armed organisation had succeeded in overrunning scores of military outposts as well as capturing the town of Mabein, northern Shan State and the Kachin State towns of Sumprabum, Injangyang, Sadung, Sinbo, Myo Hla, and Lwegel.

Clashes intensify in Kachin State as Myanmar army moves to regain ground

Fighting continued for two days after a mass of junta forces advanced from Bhamo into territory controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Momauk Township on Monday

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