Three Burmese soldiers killed fighting KIA in Manje

As fighting continues unabated, three Burmese soldiers were killed on Thursday afternoon in a clash with Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops in Manje (Mansi) township in Manmaw district, Burma’s northern Kachin State, said sources on the frontline.

The skirmish continued for 20 minutes, when two groups of soldiers from either side met near Sin Khan at about 2.30 p.m. local time, according to a KIA officer belonging to Battalion 12. There was no casualty on the KIA side, he added.

Eyewitnesses said they saw three bodies of Burmese Army soldiers being carried to Gawng Run village after the brief clash.

The fighting occurred between troops of the KIA’s Battalion 12 and the Burmese Army’s Mogaung-based Infantry Battalion (IB) No. 74, said KIA officers.

The IB No. 74 is under Military Operation Command (MOC)-3 headquartered in Mogaung. The army arrested Maraw Brang Mai and Salang Kaba La Seng, two civil administrative officers of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA on March 24, when it was deployed in Hpakant Township.

The war continues in KIA territories in the two states in Northern Burma--- Kachin State and northern Shan State after the President U Thein Sein-led proxy military government launched a military offensive against the KIO/KIA in Sang Gang in Manmaw (Bhamo) district, Kachin State on June 9.

The KIA is fighting against intruding Burmese troops under the newly-set “wide defensive policy” of the KIO/KIA.