The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allies say they captured a key junta army camp near the jade-mining town of Hpakant in Kachin State early Thursday morning.
The camp, located near the village of Nam Ya about 20 miles east of Hpakant, fell at around 6am on Thursday after two days of fierce fighting, the anti-regime forces claimed.
The KIA and its ally, the Kachin Region People’s Defence Force (Kachin PDF), began attacking the camp and one operated by a pro-junta militia on Tuesday.
The militia camp was captured the same day, but the army camp was able to continue resisting with the support of airstrikes, according to a Kachin PDF officer who took part in the fighting.
On Wednesday evening, the Kachin forces penetrated the perimeter of the camp and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with regime troops stationed there until some. . .
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