Thousands flee as KIA, allies capture junta camps near Momauk

The fall of two regime army camps near the southern Kachin State town of Momauk earlier this week has sent thousands of people living there fleeing for safety, according to residents. Col. Naw Bu, the spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said the group and its allies captured the junta’s Kyauksakhan camp, located about two miles east of the town, on Tuesday, and the nearby Mai Sak Kawng camp the following day. The latest advances by the anti-regime forces have raised fears of an escalation of the conflict in and around the town of roughly 11,000 inhabitants, said one man. “The fighting is getting very close to our town, so people are fleeing to escape the war,” he said, adding that some residents are heading west towards Bhamo, while others are going north to state capital Myitkyina. “About half the town left a day ago, but we are still assessing the situation to decide whether we will also flee or not,” he said, speaking to Myanmar Now on Thursday. The capture of the two bases comes nearly a month into an offensive launched by the KIA-led forces on March 7. The fighting has focussed mainly on the area around the 120-mile stretch of highway from Myitkyina to Bhamo, and on the road from Bhamo to the town of Lwegel on the Chinese border. According to residents of Momauk, which is about 10 miles east of Bhamo, the KIA and its allies now occupy positions both east and north of the town. “The KIA troops are already there, up to the cemetery area north of the town, which is all green now,” said one man, using a colloquial term to refer to areas under the control of the anti-regime forces. “No one can say now whether there will be fighting today or tomorrow,” he added, noting that his family has already fled to Bhamo. According to the man, the military has been airlifting reinforcements into Momauk, where the junta army’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 437 is based, for the past few days. Regime forces have also been carrying out airstrikes around the town to prevent the KIA from getting any closer, while IB 437 troops have been shelling the surrounding area, said the man. “They’re targeting the area around the Kyauksakhan camp. This morning, a house was set on fire due to the aerial bombing,” he told Myanmar Now on Thursday. Since the start of their offensive, the KIA-led forces have taken control of the town of Sinbo, about 60 miles south of Myitkyina, and captured at least 60 army camps, according to Col. Naw Bu. While most of the fighting has been along the Myitkyina-Bhamo road, which lies just west of the town of Laiza, where the KIA’s headquarters are located, major clashes have also taken place near the town of Sumprabum, about 125 miles north of Myitkyina. Several bases have also been captured near the jade-mining town of Hpakant, west of the Kachin capital. As it advances, the KIA routinely warns civilians to evacuate areas where heavy fighting is expected to break out. Since early 2021, Momauk has sheltered thousands of villagers displaced by fighting between the KIA and Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a coup earlier that year.

Thousands flee as KIA, allies capture junta camps near Momauk

The southern Kachin State town of roughly 11,000 inhabitants has also sheltered thousands of war-displaced villagers in recent years

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