KIA captures last Myanmar junta base in township bordering China

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) says it captured the last junta base near the southern Kachin State town of Momauk on Monday, giving it full control of the township bordering China. The Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 437 camp, located between Momauk and Bhamo, where the junta’s Military Operations Command (MOC) 21 is based, fell late Monday after nearly a month of clashes, according to KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu. “We launched an attack on the base early this year, but paused for a while before resuming on July 24. In response, the junta carried out air raids and artillery and drone attacks, and sent additional ground troops as reinforcements,” he said. Despite losing control of the base, the regime’s airstrikes have not relented, he added. “They are probably doing this to clear the way for their escaping troops, and to destroy anything that they were forced to leave behind,” said the KIA spokesperson. Details regarding casualties and the number of prisoners and weapons captured by the KIA and its allies were not available at the time of reporting. Videos circulating on Facebook show KIA troops celebrating on an armoured vehicle at the captured camp. The vehicle appears to have been part of a junta convoy that was intercepted en route from Bhamo to Momauk during the fighting, according to the Kachin News Group, a local media outlet. Weapons and ammunition seized by the KIA from the Infantry Battalion 123 base in northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township in January (Myat Pan / Myanmar Now) Momauk is less than 10 miles east of Bhamo, and the LIB 437 camp, which housed around 500 troops, also served as the headquarters of the MOC 21 chief, according to Zin Yaw, a former Myanmar army captain who has defected to the resistance. A coalition of KIA and allied forces have been attacking junta bases in Kachin State since early March, resulting in the capture of a number of key positions along the road from Bhamo to the state capital Myitkyina, some 120 miles to the north. In May, the anti-regime groups launched simultaneous attacks in Momauk and Mansi, a town about 15 miles south of Bhamo. Although the KIA was able to take effective control of both towns after a month of fighting, the LIB 437 camp in Momauk and LIB 601 and LIB 319 camps in Mansi remained in the regime’s control. Since the start of the current offensive, the KIA-led forces have overrun scores of military outposts and captured a number of towns, including Sumprabum, Injangyang, Sadung, Sinbo, Myo Hla, and Lwegel in Kachin State and Mabein in northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township. Last week, they also took control of two major hilltop bases near Hpakant, a jade-mining centre that has been a major source of revenue for Myanmar’s military leaders.

KIA captures last Myanmar junta base in township bordering China

The fall of the LIB 437 base gives the group and its allies full control of southern Kachin State’s Momauk Township

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