Fighting Near Laiza

Fighting Near Laiza

A skirmish broke out between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) near the armed group’s Laiza headquarters on 7 August.

After the Burma Army sent troops from the Shadan Pa banana plantation in Nam San Yang to Bandawng Kahtawng on the Myitkyina-Bhamo Road—on the way to Laiza—fighting started in Ja Ing Yang at 3 pm, lasting one hour.

According to an unconfirmed news report, a Burma Army lieutenant was killed and 9 government soldiers sustained injuries from the clash.

After the new National League for Democracy government took office in April the Burma Army launched a series of offensives to clear KIA troops from between the Irrawaddy River and Myitkyina-Bhamo Road in Waingmaw Township in eastern Kachin State.