Hundreds of Myanmar junta troops surrender after flotilla ambushed by Kachin forces

Hundreds of Myanmar junta troops surrendered to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied forces on Wednesday after resistance fighters ambushed a military flotilla carrying reinforcements and supplies towards Bhamo along the Ayeyarwady River. Resistance forces attacked the flotilla of over 10 military vessels shortly after it departed from Shwegu in southern Kachin State, en route to Bhamo where junta forces have been locked in prolonged fighting with Kachin-led forces. KIA spokesperson Col. Naw Bu told Myanmar Now that Kachin forces hit about eight of the vessels, and also captured several more ships along with a large number of junta personnel. “We were able to attack around eight military vessels,” Naw Bu said. He added that the KIA was still compiling details of the operation, including the total number of junta personnel who surrendered, and what weapons and ammunition were seized. The flotilla departed Mandalay on August 21, stopped briefly in Shwegu, then resumed its journey upriver at around 4:30am yesterday. Myanmar Now reported last month that the flotilla included combat vessels and landing craft, and was transporting troops, ammunition, and other supplies. Resistance forces had already attacked the flotilla several times during its journey amid escalating fighting along the river corridor. Wednesday’s much larger attack by the KIA and allied resistance forces was launched as the vessels entered the Second Defile, a narrow stretch of the Ayeyarwady near the villages of Zinbon and Hsinkhan, about 20 miles southeast of Shwegu. One KIA officer involved in the attack said that one vessel was sunk near Zinbon, while two others caught fire and were badly damaged. “A military vessel sank. There were around 200 soldiers on it,” the officer said. “Many [soldiers] jumped off and tried to swim away, but we were told that many did not make it. They were swept away by the current.” The KIA officer said only a small number of soldiers from the sunken vessel were seen reaching the riverbank. Myanmar Now could not independently verify the number of troops aboard the vessel or how many were killed. The two damaged vessels that caught fire were forced to the riverbanks, one coming ashore near Zinbon and the other near Hsinkhan, the officer said. Junta troops aboard then surrendered to waiting KIA forces. “The vessel below the Hsinkhan bridge caught fire during the fighting, and the troops aboard raised a white flag,” the officer said. “They have already been taken away in two vehicles.” Two additional vessels also pulled into the riverbank near Hsinkhan and surrendered, the officer added. Videos published on social media by resistance fighters show wreckage scattered across the muddy-brown Ayeyarwady, surrounded by densely forested green hills, with dark smoke rising from the remains of one vessel. At least one ship appears to have been almost completely destroyed. People in the footage can be seen swimming towards the riverbank. “Come over here,” a KIA soldier can be heard calling to them from the bank. Other footage shows surrendered junta personnel and family members, including some injured women and children, gathered under armed KIA guard beneath a concrete bridge. “Move quickly. This is not a safe place for you,” a KIA soldier can be heard telling them. Resistance sources said that more than 10 vessels had been travelling upriver. Only one managed to pass the Hsinkhan bridge and escape the attack, while the remaining vessels were either damaged, captured, or otherwise prevented from continuing. The river attack coincided with a junta ground and airstrike offensive apparently intended to support the flotilla’s advance. A KIA officer said junta ground troops had begun advancing near Zinbon at around the same time the flotilla left Shwegu. The troops had been positioned below a strategic hill recently captured by Kachin forces, he said. “When the vessels started moving this morning, the enemy forces below the strategic hill near Zinbon also began advancing on the ground,” the officer said. “We launched an operation to stop them, and they eventually retreated.” The junta also carried out about 30 air attacks on the area once fighting began, including using Y-12 aircraft, according to the officer. The military has subjected the Shwegu area to sustained aerial attacks since fighting intensified on August 18, he said, estimating that nearly 100 air attacks had been carried out since. “The air attacks have been relentless,” he said. “The other day, there were more than 20 attacks from morning until night.” He described the intensity of the air campaign around Shwegu as unprecedented for the area. Residents of villages along the Ayeyarwady River near Shwegu had already been told to evacuate two months earlier amid expectations that fighting would intensify. A vital supply route to Bhamo The flotilla’s final destination is the strategically important city of Bhamo, Kachin State’s second-largest city and the focus of a major KIA-led offensive since December 2024. Naw Bu said KIA forces continued to occupy large parts of the city where sporadic fighting was still taking place. “[Bhamo] is also a trade route providing access to China,” he told Myanmar Now. “There is sporadic fighting in the town at the moment. It is effectively a war zone, and many local residents have left.” Thousands of residents have been displaced by the prolonged battle, with some sheltering in forests and others fleeing elsewhere in Kachin State and beyond. The junta has repeatedly attempted to reinforce its forces in Bhamo with troops, weapons, and supplies, making control of the routes between Mandalay, Shwegu, and Bhamo increasingly important to both sides. Shwegu, about 60 miles west of Bhamo, has become a key staging point for those operations. The military began sending large numbers of reinforcements there by land in mid-May, contributing to months of increasingly intense fighting in the area. However, moving large numbers of troops and heavy supplies overland through contested territory carries significant risks. The Ayeyarwady River provides the junta with an alternative route. Naw Bu said the military was attempting to take advantage of higher water levels during the rainy season to move reinforcements and supplies towards Bhamo. The flotilla attacked on Wednesday represented a major attempt to use that seasonal window to strengthen junta forces fighting to hold the city. The loss or capture of multiple vessels—and potentially hundreds of personnel—could therefore represent a significant setback to the junta’s efforts to reinforce Bhamo, while demonstrating the KIA and its allies’ ability to threaten one of the military’s key remaining supply routes into the battlefield. Myanmar Now called junta spokesperson Khaing Khaing Soe for comment but received no response.

Hundreds of Myanmar junta troops surrender after flotilla ambushed by Kachin forces

The KIA said they hit about eight vessels carrying troops, weapons, and supplies en route to the strategically important city of Bhamo

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