Inside the eight-month battle for Indaw

Resistance forces seized Indaw, Sagaing Region last week, capturing a junta division commander as well as taking control of a strategically vital junction of several military supply and transport routes after months of clashes. There were heavy casualties among both the military and resistance forces during the eight-month battle for the town, which is located on the Shwebo-Myitkyina road on the border with Kachin State. Resistance forces were also able to seize large quantities of junta ammunition and arms, including artillery such as howitzers. The town, which is the ninth captured by fighting forces under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG), was taken by People’s Defence Forces (PDF) based in Military Region 1—a command area of the NUG Ministry of Defence (MOD)—joined by members of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF). NUG-affiliated forces have already captured the towns of Shwe Pyi Aye, Khampat, Maw Luu, Pinlebu and Myothit in Sagaing Region, as well as Singu,Thabeikkyin and Tagaung in Mandalay Region. Indaw is located in Katha District some 17 miles south of Maw Luu, Indaw Township, which serves as an entryway to Sagaing Region from the town of Namsi Awng in Kachin State. A crucial regional communications hub, Indaw was the site of fierce fighting between British and Japanese forces during the Second World War. Indaw had a population of over 120,000 according to the 2014 census. It is located some 30 miles north of Tigyaing, another strategically important town, and nine miles west of Katha on the bank of the Ayeyarwady River, which itself serves as a gateway to Ngar Oe, northern Shan State, on the other side of the river. The resistance forces’ capture of Indaw has cut off the junta’s land route into Sagaing Region, and their entry by water via the Ayeyarwady is also blocked by anti-junta Kachin forces that control the village of Hsin Hkan in Kachin State’s Bhamo Township. Of the two main routes of entry into Kachin State, the Bhamo-Myitkyina road is now controlled by a coalition of forces led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and the Shwebo-Myitkyina road running through Indaw is now under the control of NUG-affiliated forces. Having lost Indaw, junta forces will now only be able to supply their troops in Kachin State by air, according to Captain Zin Yaw, an officer who defected from the military after the 2021 coup. Fighters of a Pakokku District resistance battalion that participated in the Indaw offensive (Photo: Pakokku District Battalion 17) The Indaw offensive and Japanese Cave Hill Camp siege PDF and ABSDF forces launched the campaign to capture Indaw on August 15, 2024. Junta aircraft dropped dozens of bombs on the town and surrounding areas over the following two days. Since then, more than 20,000 residents of the town and its surroundings have fled to safety in nearby rural villages farther afield. Notwithstanding the junta airstrikes, the combined resistance forces managed to capture an army outpost at Nabar junction some four miles east of Indaw, which the military had held since the 2021 coup, effectively gaining access to Maw Luu and Katha. The coalition of resistance forces went on to seize crucial parts of Indaw, including a police station and administrative offices, ultimately taking all but one junta outpost in the town by October 2024. The allied anti-junta forces besieged the remaining outpost, a base at the highest point in town called the “Japanese Cave Hill Camp”. Fighting subsided as the belligerents reached an impasse until November 1, when the resistance forces launched another assault. By then, reports had emerged that the junta’s regional ally, an ethnic armed group called the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), had deployed members to reinforce the junta troops at the Japanese Cave Hill Camp. Troops of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) from the Chindwin area in early August 2023 (Photo: ABSDF Column 3) The junta had been unable to spare army reinforcements to Indaw as it fended off attacks by the KIA and Brotherhood Alliance in nearby Kachin and northern Shan States, but regularly deployed air support during the battle. As fighting reignited in Indaw, both sides suffered heavy casualties, and the combined resistance forces progressed slowly, capturing small positions east of the Japanese Cave Hill Camp by the end of January 2025. In mid-March, approximately 150 junta troops advanced from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 309 base in Katha to Indaw. The KIA and Kachin People’s Defense Force (Kachin PDF) intercepted these troops near Pin Ma Lut village, about five miles west of Katha. Fighting over the next two days resulted in the deaths of an unknown number of junta troops and the capture of around 30, according to a frontline source who spoke to Myanmar Now at the time and a statement released by the NUG’s defence ministry. The army troops manning the Japanese Cave Hill Camp emerged on April 1 in a final desperate attempt to fight off the anti-junta fighters, but went down to defeat, allowing the resistance forces to advance on the hill base virtually unopposed On the evening of April 7, as combined resistance forces launched their last attack on the camp and began post-capture clearing operations, a column of junta troops under the Light Infantry Division (LID) 77 commander retreated towards Katha, and resistance forces took full control of the base and town, the frontline source told Myanmar Now. “When they advanced in formation, our forces fought back and eventually captured Myo Ma Monastery and the Reclining Buddha Pagoda Hill. After that, we captured Japanese Cave Hill,” he explained. While around 40 junta soldiers are known to have surrendered, the resistance was still verifying identifying information about the captured troops and had yet to confirm their ranks and exact numbers, he said, adding that the resistance forces also captured two howitzers, two 120mm mortars, small arms, and a large stockpile of ammunition. In an April 8 statement, the NUG Ministry of Defence emphasised that during the prolonged battle, the military failed to deploy reinforcements, suffered heavy casualties, and was unable to deliver weapons or supplies via land routes. Weapons and ammunition seized by resistance forces in the Indaw offensive (Photo: NUG) In the wake of the town's capture, some Indaw residents welcomed the resistance forces by playing traditional drums and gongs in the streets, celebrating their victory over the military. More than 40 resistance units had taken part in the offensive, including a special column from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), two battalions from ABSDF Column 3, battalions based in the MOD’s Military Region 1, other People’s Defence Organisation troops, as well as drone and artillery units. The junta’s fortified hill base The Japanese Cave Hill Camp is on the east side of Indaw, on a ridge that runs west to east overlooking the town. In addition to the army’s fortified base, the hillside is also the site of monasteries and other religious buildings. The hill acquired this name after the Imperial Japanese Army dug tunnels to house and protect a field hospital operating in Indaw while they were occupying Indaw and defending it from British forces during the Second World War. While camped on the same site, junta forces had fortified the hillside with underground chambers and concrete bunkers. A man from Indaw who has seen this location first-hand said there were concrete tunnels about three feet wide and 7 feet high running into the hill. Concrete bunkers and communications tunnels have been under construction there since the Thein Sein administration of 2011 to 2016, he said, when a military communications unit was established at the base. “There are tunnels that cross through the mountain, going straight through. And then there are holes in all four directions, tunnels crossing the mountain from one side to the other,” he said. Indaw remains strategically important to this day, which is why both the junta and resistance forces have battled so fiercely for it, he added. “This area is a focal point in the current day, and looking back to World War II, this is where the Japanese positioned themselves,” he said. Videos spread on social media after the town’s capture showing the inside of the tunnels and caves, which appear to be of solid construction with entire underground rooms, power generators, and sandbag bunkers at their entrances. The height of some tunnels appears to be about ten feet. The base also served as a headquarters for the army’s LID 77 and its commander. LID 77, widely known as one of the junta’s most ruthless and battle-hardened units, established its frontline command post at the Japanese Cave Hill Camp, with Brigadier General Aung Thet Oo personally heading a strategic combined force of four battalions. Japanese Cave Hill Camp after its capture by resistance forces The eight-month offensive Resistance forces’ assaults flagged repeatedly while the junta successfully held control of the hill camp for eight months. Fighting did not occur every day, and the allies’ offensive often slowed when ammunition ran low or airstrikes kept them at bay, according to reports from the field. In late January the coalition of fighters captured some of the outlying defensive outposts at the Japanese Cave Hill Camp, including the Hna Htek Hill, Myo-U Pagoda, and the monastery at the base of the hill, but were only able keep control of these positions temporarily, according to Myanmar Now’s frontline source. “Yes, we were stationed at those outposts. But our side had to retreat due to lack of ammunition, so they recaptured them. They’re also very close, and it’s not easy to stay in position for a long time without continuing to fight,” he said. As the impasse continued the junta supplied the besieged Japanese Cave Hill Camp with ammunition and other provisions using Y-12 transport aircraft. Four battalions with a total of more than 600 troops were stationed at the camp and manning its fortified bunkers, equipped with a full arsenal of arms and ammunition including howitzers, which would have made the position difficult for any force to capture, according to the defecting officer Captain Zin Yaw. “Although there was no territorial battalion in Indaw, LID 77's frontline headquarters and its four subordinate battalions were stationed there as a strategic formation,” he said. “Using the World War II-era Japanese Cave Hill Camp for cover, they had fortified their defensive positions, which explains the delay in taking them.” "Indaw is a crucial junction point for Kachin State, northern Shan State and Sagaing Region,” he added. “That's why if the military had to abandon this position, it would be a significant loss for them. It would mean that all routes into the entirety of Kachin State by land and water would be cut off.” Capture of the LID 77 commander LID 77 commander Brig-Gen Aung Thet Oo, having fended off attacks for nearly a week, abandoned Japanese Cave Hill Camp on April 7 and retreated with his remaining force of around 180 troops towards Katha. PDF fighters captured him along with most of the soldiers still under his command the following day near Katha, according to reports from the field. According to Captain Zin Yaw, before his capture there had been negotiations between the LID 77 commander and the resistance forces about the surrender of the Japanese Cave Hill Camp. “Both the Northwestern Command and LID 77 know that he was captured after negotiations,” he said. “In the end, he may have had to beg for mercy.” Neither the junta nor the NUG government has released details about the capture of Aung Thet Oo, a graduate of the military’s Defence Services Academy, Cohort 42, or others as prisoners of war. Sources on the ground estimate that more than 200 junta troops might have been killed in the battle for Indaw, with resistance forces having lost as many as 100. The People’s Defence Force (PDF) Pakokku District Battalion 10 reported losing four of their comrades during the Indaw offensive. PDF fighters from Pakokku District Battalion 10 return from the Indaw offensive carrying photos of four fallen fighters from their unit (Photo: from a video of Pakokku District Battalion 10)Screenshot According to some residents of Indaw, the battle caused less damage to the town than past clashes for the control of towns in Sagaing Region. "The town wasn’t damaged as badly as Kawlin, Tigyaing, or Pinlebu. Houses near the military’s hill base were damaged. In the town centre, houses were mainly damaged by fire. The outskirts of town and Yay Twin Kone Ward weren’t affected much,” the local frontline source said. Most Indaw residents have been sheltering in nearby villages since the fighting began, while others have fled to more distant towns. Some displaced people who were sheltering at the Myo Ma Monastery near Japanese Cave Hill Camp were reportedly killed by junta airstrikes. On April 1, when fighting resumed, a junta airstrike killed two locals and injured a monk and eight civilians at the monastery, also virtually destroying the building. Although there is still fear of junta air strikes following the town’s capture, displaced residents are hopeful they will be able to return to Indaw soon, one man who fled the town said. "Most Indaw evacuees are saying that they will be able to return soon. It won't take long, maybe two or three months. They will clear the town,” he said, referring to the resistance forces now in control. “Most people really want to return to their homes.”

Inside the eight-month battle for Indaw

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