Junta assault pushes Kachin resistance to withdraw from key Bhamo sites

The Myanmar military launched assaults on Artillery Battalion 366 and Bhamo Airport, strategic sites seized by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) near the China border, forcing KIA and allied fighters to retreat amid fierce clashes.The battle for Bhamo—a town on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River that hosts several junta battalions—began when the KIA launched attacks in December 2024. On Aug 10, KIA-allied forces withdrew from Artillery Battalion 366 and the airport, according to a local man citing frontline military sources. He said the junta has yet to secure the entire area, with heavy fighting still underway. “They said they haven’t lost entirely and that the withdrawal is temporary. The fighting is still ongoing around those areas.”Colonel Naw Bu, a KIA Information Officer, told Myanmar Now that frontline sources confirmed a junta raid on Artillery Battalion 366 and the airport, though details of the situation are still unknown.“Frontline sources say junta troops have reached Artillery Battalion 366, but it’s unclear whether they’ve secured a position or pulled back,” he said. “The situation at the airport is similar—they control one side while we hold the other.” Colonel Naw Bu told Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an independent Myanmar news outlet, that although junta troops have entered Bhamo Airport, they have yet to seize control of the area fully. “They said they haven’t taken over the entire airport,” he told DVB. “I’m not sure whether it’s the north or south side, but I’ve heard they’re present in one section. They said they could take photos, and so can we. My point is, they haven’t secured full control yet.”Artillery Battalion 366 sits more than a mile north of the airport and east of Bhamo town. Both locations were seized by the KIA in February this year. Additionally, Tank Battalion 5014, already under KIA control, is situated roughly two miles east of the airport.Online junta propaganda websites circulated photos and videos asserting that junta forces have regained control of Artillery Battalion 366 and the airport. Artillery Battalion 366, being the nearest site to Military Operations Command (MOC) 21, holds strategic importance for both sides. If the KIA were to lose the battalion, their ability to launch attacks on MOC 21 would face significant setbacks. Intense offensives in Bhamo Over two months into the offensives, allied anti-junta forces secured several urban wards in Bhamo Town, as well as key junta positions including Tank Battalion 5014, Armored Battalion 7006, Infantry Battalion 236, Artillery Battalion 366, and the airport in February 2025.The KIA controls about two-thirds of Bhamo Town, while junta forces remain entrenched in their final defensive positions, including Military Operations Command (MOC) 21 in the north, Infantry Battalion 47 near the southern exit, and other combat battalions. In 2023, junta forces that withdrew from KIA-captured camps near the Chin border regrouped in Bhamo, sparking clashes involving thousands of fighters. Heavy air, artillery, and drone strikes destroyed much of the riverside urban area, forcing most residents to flee. On Aug. 1, nine junta naval vessels from Mandalay arrived via the Ayeyarwady River, after which the military intensified air and ground assaults, according to the KIA and local residents.At a peace talk held in Naypyitaw in June, the junta proposed holding online peace negotiations with the KIA through the Kachin Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG). Lieutenant General Gun Maw, vice-chairman of the Kachin Independence Council (KIC), told the BBC in an interview and posted on Facebook, that he would dispatch a representative team to Myitkyina if the junta shows willingness to negotiate. According to the 2014 census, the town of Bhamo has 16 urban wards and a population of over 100,000, making it the second largest city of Kachin State. Located about 40 miles from the China border, it is a strategic hub with both river and land access connecting Kachin State to central Myanmar.As the KIA and allied forces have seized all land routes leading to Momauk Town in the east, Mansi Town in the south, and Shwegu Town in the west, the junta sole access to Bhamo now remains the river route. The KIA and allied forces took control of Momauk, Mansi, and Hsin Hkan circuit village last year. Since the March offensives aimed at dismantling the military dictatorship began, the KIA has seized Mabein Town in northern Shan State and 14 towns throughout Kachin State. Since mid-year, the junta has relaunched offensives to retake towns and territories lost in previous years, conducting coordinated attacks simultaneously in Mandalay, Magway, and Sagaing in the central region, as well as in Kachin State and along the southern Shan-Karenni border. “With the arrival of naval vessels, the junta forces launched ground offensives, expanding their strategy,” Colonel Naw Bu said. “Earlier, they relied solely on artillery and drone attacks, but now they have combined these with ground assaults following coordinated air, artillery, and drone strikes.”

Junta assault pushes Kachin resistance to withdraw from key Bhamo sites

Myanmar’s military launched air, artillery, and ground attacks on Artillery Battalion 366 and Bhamo Airport, pushing KIA fighters from positions near the China border

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