Locals flee as fighting intensifies near Myanmar jade centre of Hpakant

Thousands of residents have fled villages in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township in recent days as anti-regime forces led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) clash with advancing junta troops. According to a resident of the area, fighting broke out near the village of Inmayang late Wednesday as a junta army column from Sutbum, a village about three miles northeast of the town of Hpakant, came under fire from the KIA-led forces. “The junta troops were getting close to Inmayang, but the resistance forces wouldn’t let them advance any further,” said a local man, adding that regime forces stationed on a nearby tactical hill provided heavy weapons support to the junta column. The fighting continued through the evening and resumed early the next day, he said, speaking to Myanmar Now on Thursday. “This morning, at around 4am, the junta troops were on the march again, so the fighting restarted,” he said, noting that if the column captured Inmayang, it would be in a position to continue on to the strategically important Lamawng hill, about eight miles west of Hpakant. The KIA and its allies currently control most of the regime’s tactical positions west of Hpakant, including Lamawng hill, after capturing them earlier this year. According to a member of the Kachin People’s Defence Force, which has been fighting alongside the KIA in Hpakant, the clashes near Inmayang quieted down by 3pm on Thursday, though some heavy weapons fire continued. Meanwhile, clashes between a junta column of over 100 troops advancing from Kamaing, a regime-controlled town about 40 miles east of Hpakant, and KIA-led forces have also been reported near Namya, a village on the Hpakant-Kamaing road, in recent days. KIA spokesperson Col. Naw Bu was unavailable for comment on the latest situation in Hpakant Township. The fighting near Inmayang has forced residents of the village and others in the area to flee their homes since Wednesday, according to another local man. “Over a thousand have fled to Hpakant alone, and there are many others fleeing to Lone Khin, Hmawsisa, and Seikmu,” he said, referring to villages just outside the conflict zone. “There are two monasteries in Hmawsisa. Since the junta has stationed troops at the hilltop monastery, the displaced villagers are staying at the lower monastery. And in Lone Khin, there are many fleeing from the Hpakant-Kamaing road area,” he said. The have been numerous reports of fighting in Hpakant since large numbers of regime reinforcements started arriving in the area in late May. At least 30 civilians have been killed, some in unexplained shootings, since then. Like other armed groups fighting the regime in northern Myanmar, the KIA has come under pressure from China to end its offensive and enter into a ceasefire with the junta. Since March of last year, the KIA has captured 14 towns in Kachin State, as well as Mabein in northern Shan State.

Locals flee as fighting intensifies near Myanmar jade centre of Hpakant

The latest clashes have broken out northeast of the town, as regime forces try to reach a strategically important hill base to the west

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