Pro-junta militia kills four civilians after KIA attack on base

A junta-backed militia based in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township arrested and killed four civilians over the weekend following an attack on one of its bases by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), according to local residents and a KIA intelligence officer. The four men were killed on Sunday, a day after the KIA used heavy weapons and drones to attack the Warazup people’s militia at a military training ground in Shaduzup, a village in Hpakant Township located about 33 miles south of the town of Tanai, the sources told Myanmar Now. The KIA attack left at least five militia members dead and several other wounded, the KIA intelligence officer said. He provided Myanmar Now with photographs showing two bodies in military uniforms with visible injuries, which he identified as members of the Warazup militia. He also said the KIA seized their weapons. The following day, the Warazup militia raided Shaduzup and villages along the Ledo Road, according to the intelligence officer and local residents. Four young men from Nawngmyi, a village about 13 miles south of Shaduzup, were arrested and killed during the raid, the sources said. The victims, who were all ethnic Kachin, were identified as Htwae San Aung, 18; Sut Aung, 19; Lamai Gwan Mai, 21; and Dawng Lum, 25. Their families were attempting to recover their bodies, a local resident said. Residents said the militia has continued detaining people suspected of having links to the KIA. “Basically, they’re conducting close inspections of houses where Kachin youths are located,” a local resident said. Another resident said the militia had detained a man identified as U Dwe Aung in Tanai and had summoned residents of the village of Warazup, where people were allegedly beaten and tortured. Myanmar Now contacted the Warazup people’s militia for comment on the fighting and allegations that it killed civilians but did not receive a response. An account on Facebook using the name Nyi Nyi Zaw, believed to belong to a Warazup officer, appeared to address the August 8 clash. “If there is a debt, it must be paid. We were just living peacefully. You guys started the fight first,” the post said. The Warazup people’s militia was formed in 2016 with the approval of Myanmar’s military. The group, led by Min Zin Thant and based in Shaduzup, operates in the Hpakant-Tanai area under the junta’s Northern Regional Military Command. At a military graduation ceremony in Hpakant last October, Min Zin Thant identified the KIA and the National Unity Government’s People’s Defence Force as the militia’s enemies. Fighting between the KIA and joint military and militia forces has intensified in Tanai Township in recent days. KIA Battalion 14 forces have also reportedly been intercepting junta troops advancing toward the Lapuhka amber-mining area southwest of the town of Tanai. Kachin State has been one of the main fronts in Myanmar’s conflict since the military seized power in February 2021. Fighting has also continued in Bhamo and Shwegu townships. Since the KIA and allied resistance groups launched a major offensive in March 2024, they have captured 14 towns in Kachin State and Mabein in neighbouring Shan State.

Pro-junta militia kills four civilians after KIA attack on base

The killings, of four young ethnic Kachin men, were retaliation for the death of several members of the Warazup people’s militia, a KIA source said

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