Myanmar’s military carried out airstrikes on a base operated by Battalion 6 of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township earlier this week, the ethnic armed group has confirmed.
The incident occurred at around 5pm on Wednesday, when two fighter jets fired on the base, located about 30km northeast of the town of Hpakant, according to KIA information officer Col Naw Bu.
“They fired rockets, not bombs, from what I’ve been told. Nobody was hurt, but several houses were destroyed,” he said, speaking to Myanmar Now on Thursday.
He added that the KIA base did not receive a direct hit, but several rockets landed on a nearby hill where an addiction rehabilitation centre is located.
The aircraft used in the attack reportedly came from the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, which is also the command centre for the military’s Northern Regional Command.
According to a local man, the fighter jets fired a total of nine times.
“We heard nobody was injured, but we don’t know for sure, as no official statement has been released yet,” he said.
The KIA base that was targeted on Wednesday is located on the eastern bank of the Uru River a few kilometres north of the group’s A Nang Pa base.
In October of last year, junta airstrikes on the A Nang Pa base killed at least 62 people attending a music festival held to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the KIA and its political wing, the Kachin Independence Organisation.
Since the military seized power in February 2021, the KIA has supported resistance groups opposed to the regime. Together with its new allies, it has clashed with junta forces not only in Kachin State, but also in Sagaing Region and parts of Shan State.
After carrying out another deadly aerial assault on the village of Pa Zi Gyi in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township last week, the military attempted to justify its killing of at least 160 people, including dozens of children, by claiming that “KIA and revolutionary forces were in the village.”
On Monday, the KIA seized control of a base jointly operated by junta troops and members of the Shanni Nationalities Army, an ethnic army allied with the regime, in Sagaing’s Homalin Township, which borders Hpakant.
Clashes were also reported the next day after the KIA ambushed a junta convoy near the village of Hseng Hpa Yar in Hpakant Township.
Col Naw Bu suggested that Wednesday’s aerial assault was likely a response to these two actions, which he claimed had resulted in multiple regime casualties.
“It is customary for the military to resort to airstrikes when it suffers casualties,” he said.
