The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allies seized the northern Shan State town of Mabein over the weekend, sources in the groups involved said.
Mabein, the administrative centre of the township by the same name in Mongmit District, was captured on Sunday morning by the KIA, the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) after two days of clashes with the military.
“Fighting began on Friday night and continued throughout the next day. [The junta] responded with a series of deadly airstrikes,” Arkar Phyo, a representative of ABSDF’s Column 2 told Myanmar Now.
Houses were damaged in the aerial assaults, he added, noting that while there had not been reports of civilian casualties, information was still being collected from the ground.
“Junta warplanes have bombed the town since Friday night and carried out multiple airstrikes during the battles. . .