Kachin fighters’ siege forces Myanmar junta troops out of captured hotel in Hpakant Township

Members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied groups strengthened their tactical advantage in Hpakant Township, Kachin State on Tuesday by taking over a hotel occupied by army troops in the township, a KIA-connected source said. The junta initially raided and occupied the Lucky Men Hotel on September 7 in the village of Hseng Taung some six miles south of Hpakant, purportedly searching for anti-junta fighters. They then fought fiercely against members of the KIA and Kachin People’s Defence Forces (Kachin PDF) who had surrounded the hotel intending to negotiate with the soldiers for hostages or force them out. After a stand-off and shootouts at the hotel turned into a battle, fighting spread to other parts of Hpakant Township, which is known for its jade production. Clashes resumed at the Lucky Men Hotel on Sunday evening after appearing to subside for around a week, and the KIA-led alliance of forces was finally able to seize the hotel and drive out the remaining junta occupiers on Tuesday morning, according to a local man connected to the KIA. “Lucky Men Hotel was captured this morning,” the man said on Tuesday. “They went in close and captured it, and now it’s been set on fire.” “Over 20 on their side were killed,” he added, referring to the junta forces. “And more than 20 were captured alive.” The KIA-led forces also reportedly seized a cache of heavy and light weapons at the hotel, but the details are not yet confirmed. "When the fighting first started, they had taken staff members hostage,” the KIA-connected source said, referring to the junta soldiers. “That made it difficult to attack. The defences around the hotel and the karaoke bar next door were also extremely hard to penetrate. But yesterday, [the Kachin forces] used drones to strike continuously all day.” Col. Naw Bu, the KIA’s spokesperson, said he could not confirm the reports of the hotel’s recapture. “I've seen claims on social media that it was captured, but speaking for our official information department, we haven’t received such information yet,” he said. “It’s likely to be true, but I think we need to wait and observe a little longer,” he added. A photo posted on social media showed a fire in Hseng Taung Village on September 12 The three-storey Lucky Men Hotel opened around a year ago in Hseng Taung—a large village located across the river from Hpakant Township’s urban centre—and became a local attraction thanks in large part to its onsite gambling facilities. Around 100 junta troops reportedly raided the hotel in the first week of September based on information from an unknown source that KIA and Kachin PDF members were there. During the clashes at the hotel, the KIA and Kachin PDF also captured Hseng Taung’s hilltop police station on September 12. Junta airstrikes and artillery strikes, carried out in the effort to retake the police station, have set fire to civilian homes in the village, which is contiguous with the town of Hpakant and has a population of several thousand. The fighting and fires have caused mass displacement of civilians from Hseng Taung and Hpakant. Kachin anti-junta forces now control 19 army base camps seized from junta forces this year. The recapture of the hotel has also put the Kachin fighters in a better position to exert pressure on military forces in Hpakant, a valuable territory to control because of its importance for Myanmar’s lucrative production of jade. However, the military still controls various important positions in Hpakant and neighbouring Hseng Taung, including three hilltop tactical bases, three camps, a prison, and two police stations. Since launching an offensive against the Myanmar military in Kachin State and neighbouring parts of northern Shan State in March of this year, KIA-led forces have captured 10 towns from junta forces in Kachin State as well as the nearby town of Mabein in northern Shan State.

Kachin fighters’ siege forces Myanmar junta troops out of captured hotel in Hpakant Township

The recapture of the hotel puts Kachin fighters in a better position to exert pressure on military forces in the town of Hpakant, which is strategically vital because of its importance for Myanmar’s lucrative jade production

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