KIA, allies continue bid to take full control of northern Kachin town

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied resistance forces are continuing their efforts to capture a junta hill camp near the town of Sumprabum in northern Kachin State after days of intense fighting, according to local sources. The KIA and People’s Defence Force (PDF) groups began their attacks in the area earlier this month, capturing a junta camp north of Sumprabum on March 8. Since then, fighting has moved closer to the town, which is now almost under full control of the anti-regime forces despite heavy aerial bombardment by the military. The latest round of clashes began on March 14 and has centred on a hill camp just outside of Sumprabum, a town located about 125 miles north of the state capital Myitkyina. “The fighting is still ongoing, particularly at the hill camp,” a resident told Myanmar Now on Monday. “The police station surrendered on the first day. Since the ground battle began, the junta has been conducting airstrikes—at least 10 a day,” he added. The camp is manned by around 30 Infantry Battalion 46 troops based in Putao, some 90 miles to the north, as well as about 20 members of the pro-regime Khaunglanhpu militia, according to the Putao PDF, which claimed that one militia member in his 50s had surrendered to the resistance forces. Residents say that the regime stepped up its airstrikes near the camp on Sunday, carrying out a total of 13 fighter jet attacks from early morning until around 5:30pm. The camp is located on a hill just north of Sumprabum and is the last military position in the area still under the control of the regime, locals said. Although a number of houses near the camp have been damaged, no civilian casualties have been reported, as most of Sumprabum’s 1,300 inhabitants fled the town after fighting began earlier in the month. However, residents say they have been unable to reach either Myitkyina or Putao, forcing them to take shelter in neighbouring villages just outside of the battle zone. If the KIA and its allies succeed in taking full control of Sumprabum, junta forces in Putao will also be vulnerable, sources said. Sumprabum is on the highway linking Putao to Myitkyina, which serves as Putao’s chief source of supplies. The KIA-led forces began launching attacks on regime outposts along the Myitkyina-Bhamo highway, south of Myitkyina, on March 7, capturing nearly a dozen in a matter of days. The attacks are part of a new offensive that aims to seize territory from the junta and protect the KIA’s headquarters at Laiza, a town on the Chinese border just east of the Myitkyina-Bhamo highway. Junta military bases in Hpakant, the jade-mining town west of Myitkyina, have also been captured since the offensive began.

KIA, allies continue bid to take full control of northern Kachin town

Junta airstrikes have so far failed to halt anti-regime groups’ efforts to capture Sumprabum, a town located about 125 miles north of Myitkyina

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