The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked two Myanmar military bases in northern Shan State early Thursday afternoon, the organisation’s spokesperson said.
KIA information officer Col Naw Bu told Myanmar Now that the Kachin forces fired heavy artillery at the junta’s military posts near two bridges: Nam Hkaing on the Union highway between Kutkai and Namphetka and Nam Paw, between Namphetka and Muse.
He added that the number of casualties was not yet confirmed.
“Fighting has broken out in many places these days. Fighting also broke out in the Mongko area,” Col Naw Bu said, referring to the town in Muse Township on the Shan-China border.
Nam Hkaing bridge is around 10 miles north of Kutkai and is a connecting point on the Lashio-Muse section of the Union highway.
A woman staying in the Hokho internally displaced persons camp in Mong Yu Lay village near Nam Hkaing bridge said she heard the sound of artillery shells being fired for around one hour, beginning at 11am.
“Because it was so close to us, we could hear the explosions. Out of fear, we did not dare to go out to see what was happening,” she said.
The junta’s military base near Kutkai town fired artillery shells back towards a base belonging to the KIA’s Battalion 9 under Brigade 6. Other Kutkai-based Myanmar military units joined the shelling, according to a Kutkai resident.
The fighting took place in an area where the KIA’s ninth battalion is active. There have been frequent clashes between the KIA and the junta’s army along the Lashio-Muse highway.
Mongko has also seen frequent bouts of fighting between the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Myanmar military.
Since the February 1 military coup, heavy fighting has taken place between the KIA and the junta’s armed forces in northern Shan State and in neighbouring Kachin State.
The KIA, in cooperation with local People’s Defence Forces, has also fought the junta’s troops in Kawlin, Katha and Htigyaing townships in upper Sagaing Region.
On Monday afternoon, the KIA intercepted and attacked seven naval vessels belonging to the junta on the Irrawaddy River near Shwegu in Kachin State.
Prior to the coup, the KIA was not among the ethnic armed organisations signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government and military, but had engaged in preliminary peace talks with the National League for Democracy administration.
In February, following the military’s attempted seizure of power in Myanmar, the KIA announced that they would protect anti-coup protesters in Kachin State and welcomed the resistance movement.
