KIA raid kills Burmese Major, 17 others in Mongkoe

An attack by the Kachin Independence Army in Mongkoe in Shan state killed at least 18 Burmese army personnel early Monday morning, eyewitnesses report. The attack which occurred in downtown Mongkoe targeted a compound that is home to the Military Strategic Office (Byu-ha Kone in Burmese) and an adjoining police station.

Among the dead was Major Maung Maung Myo, the commander of the Chinshwehawy (Nyankun)-based Infantry Battalion No. 129, claimed a representative of the KIA. While most of the killed were soldiers two of the dead were members of the local police force according to the KIA official.

Several homes and offices located in the military compound that housed the Strategic Office were also destroyed in the raid, said a local resident. The attack in Mongkoe near the Chinese border is just the latest clash between the KIA and the Burmese army in an increasingly violent conflict that began in June.

The raid was carried out by troops from KIA Battalions 36 and 38 under the Kia’s 4th Brigade based in Northern Shan State and lasted approximately 45 minutes a KIA official told the Kachin News Group.

Also killed in the raid was Corporal Sumlut Gam Seng of the KIA's Battalion 36, the KIA official said.

Although a Burmese army convoy carrying reinforcements left Muse's 105 Border Trade Zone shortly after the attack according to local residents it had yet to arrive in Mongkoe by late Monday afternoon.

This story compiled by a Kachin News Group reporter in Mongkoe.