Junta offensives reshape Myanmar’s jade hub

Intense fighting in Myanmar’s jade-rich Hpakant Township has brought sweeping changes to the once-booming mining town, with junta forces torching company equipment and forcing businesses into a costly retreat, sources told Myanmar Now. Several jade firms have shuttered operations, some due to the monsoon, others to avoid destruction by troops.“Many have hidden their machinery because the junta burned down equipment,” a local Hpakant man told Myanmar Now. “Jade miners, if they're close to KIA territory and the natural resource group, work in small groups which also include gold miners.” As the military expands operations across the township, many of those working in the jade trade are struggling. Despite the risks, informal miners continue scouring waste piles in search of jade, braving the threat of arrest or death as junta troops patrol the area. Some venture into waste soil mounds at mining sites where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) collects taxes, while most search along nearby streams, creeks, and riverbanks for stones they can sell. Jade trading businesses in Hpakant Township continue to operate, but sales are lower than before, according to a local man involved in the jade trade. Since early 2024, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has collected a growing share of taxes from Hpakant’s lucrative jade trade as it expands territorial control. The town, a major revenue source for both the KIA and the junta, has become a fierce battleground, with intensified fighting and rising civilian casualties as the military tries to retake ground. A jade miner displaying some pieces of jade in 2020. (Photo: AFP) KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told Myanmar Now that the junta's current offensive may be aimed at regaining control of camps lost in last year's fighting, as well as regaining control of taxes and benefits from jade mining. The KIA-led offensive on Bhamo, launched in December 2024, has stalled, with only minor clashes in Waingmaw Township. Since March, however, the KIA has seized 14 towns in Kachin State and Mabein in northern Shan State, including key border trade hubs like Kanpaikti and Lwegel.With major revenue sources lost, the junta is now focused on retaking Hpakant, prompting fears among locals that fighting there may escalate.The KIA has captured most of the important tactical hill camps overlooking the town of Hpakant and also controls the western and northern sides of the urban centre. Yet due to nearly a month of ongoing fighting, sources say many civilians in Hpakant have been killed, while thousands of residents from surrounding villages have been forced to flee. A junta counter-offensive Beginning in January 2024, the KIA and its allied forces launched coordinated offensives along Hpakant’s three main access roads—Hpakant-Kamaing, Hpakant-Inn Taw Gyi, and Hpakant-Sezin—capturing key junta camps and securing control over each route. Major camps such as Namya, Namtein, Sezin, and the Light Infantry Battalion 119 base were taken, along with nearby hill posts and villages. After capturing Hseng Taung village in September, fighting briefly paused. By then, most junta camps in Hpakant town were left surrounded. Starting April 23 this year, junta forces aiming to profit from the jade trade launched an offensive from Kamaing, about 40 miles east of Hpakant, with a force of about 600 troops. Coming with heavy weapons and substantial air support, the KIA and Kachin PDF coalition forces could no longer hold back the military forces on the Hpakant-Kamaing road.The KIA was then forced to abandon many of their camps along the road. Subsequently, the remaining junta columns launched large offensives that same month. Resistance sources told Myanmar Now that the main objective was to regain control of villages in the northern and western parts of the town under KIA control, including jade mining sites and important tactical hills. Throughout June, fighting occurred frequently, with at least four dozen civilians killed. While fighting in Hpakant has slowed since early this month, clashes have started intensifying again after another junta convoy arrived in town on July 2. By July 5, KIA coalition forces ambushed a junta army column coming as reinforcements from Tanai-based Regional Operation Command (ROC) to Hpakant town near Namya village, about 20 miles east of Hpakant town, according to Hpakant Kachin PDF sources. During this attack, nearly an entire junta column was destroyed, and experienced heavy casualties, while supplies and ammunition were captured by anti-junta forces. On July 11, heavy fighting then erupted near a small village outside Hpakant town. On June 3, 2025, the junta burned a group of mining sites near Hmaw Si Zar village. (Photo: Tralin Mg) “They were trapped inside the village, unable to advance or retreat, so our side went to attack them,” a Hpakant Kachin PDF member told Myanmar Now. “There were many junta casualties, but we can't confirm the exact numbers. We haven't been able to clear that area yet.” KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu confirmed to Myanmar Now that the fighting has started escalating across the township. "There's fighting in Hpakant, around Hmaw Wan Lay and Hmaw Wan Gyi villages, fighting occurred all day,” he said. “There were even airstrikes.” Civilians in the crossfire Between May 27 and July 16, up to 50 local residents were killed—either in clashes, by junta forces, or through extrajudicial killings, local sources say. On July 12, fighting broke out when the KIA fired on a junta vehicle patrolling the area. A local village head, Min Soe Oo, who was in the vehicle, and a local man nearby were both killed in the exchange. Roughly 5,000 people from at least nine villages in the township have fled the area according to a local man. "Mainly women and children have left,” the man said. “Some young men stayed behind to guard villages because they feared their villages would be burned and thieves would break in." "Hpakant is also overcrowded. In the monasteries, there's not enough space, no room under roofs, so they have to sleep in monastery open areas with tarpaulins," the man said. "Even low quality rice costs around 150,000 to 180,000 kyat,” he said. “When people heard it might run out, some bought out of worry, so prices rose further.” The junta has also blocked rice transport and sales along the Hpakant–Inn Taw Gyi road—the only supply route into Hpakant town—raising the risk of rice shortages for the thousands of job seekers who have gathered there from across the country. A civilian was killed from Myanmar military artillery shelling near Hmaw Si Zar village on June 17. (Photo: Tarlin Mg) As the battle for Hpakant rages on, both sides remain determined to seize control of the jade-rich town and its surrounding strategic terrain. But for the thousands of civilians caught in the middle, survival is the only priority. With food supplies running low, displacement rising, and the threat of airstrikes constant, it is the residents of Hpakant Township who continue to bear the brunt of the war. “We understand that these military operations are meant to cut off the income of our armed groups,” Colonel Naw Bu said. “We also believe they’re trying to retake the camps they lost and abandoned last year.”

Junta offensives reshape Myanmar’s jade hub

Increased fighting and economic collapse grip Hpakant as junta forces torch mining sites, civilians flee, and jade revenue becomes a target

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