Myanmar army camp near Hpakant falls to Kachin forces

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 fled and others surrendered, the Kachin PDF officer told Myanmar Now. “About half of the soldiers ran away, and the other half surrendered to us,” he said. “We took a significant number of prisoners and a large amount of weapons and ammunition.” Nam Ya is located on the Myitkyina-Hpakant road, one of three main roads leading to Hpakant. The Nam Ya camp was used by the military to strictly monitor vehicles and people entering and exiting the jade town. The KIA and its allies have been attacking army positions near Hpakant since last month, capturing at least 10 major army camps and a number of smaller outposts. However, some main bases near Hpakant, including a tactical hill camp, remain under junta control. Meanwhile, fierce clashes continue near Sezin, a village about 40 miles southwest of Hpakant, according to a Kachin PDF officer taking part in the fighting there. “Yesterday, [the junta forces] said they were going to surrender, so we stopped attacking them. But when they didn’t actually turn themselves in this morning, we resumed fighting,” he said. Around 1,100 civilians living in the area have fled since the fighting started on Tuesday, sources said. Some residents of Nam Ya began returning on Thursday after the fighting stopped, but most have stayed away due to junta airstrikes that were carried out at around 10am, according to a local man. “Even after they lost the camp, they kept dropping bombs. So we still can’t go to see how much damage was done,” he said, adding that at least 10 houses and a rice mill are known to have been destroyed. There were no casualties among Nam Ya villagers, he said, because they were able to escape before the fighting started.

Myanmar army camp near Hpakant falls to Kachin forces

The KIA and its allies took control of the camp, located on the main road into the jade-mining town, after junta troops stationed there fled or surrendered

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