Myitkyina IDP camps suffer serious food shortage

A IDP camp in Jan Mai Kawng Baptist Church in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state.

Internally displaced people’s camps in the Myitkyina area are undergoing a serious food shortage because the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has failed to deliver food to some of the camps this month, according to local aid workers.

2 KIA killed fighting in Southern Kachin state

KIA troops in Kachin state, northern Burma.

An officer from the Kachin Independence Army and his subordinate were shot and killed by government troops near the Nam Lim Pa refugee camp in southern Kachin state on November 23, according to KIA colleagues.  The incident occurred whilst KIA forces in the area are under orders not to strike at government forces.

KIO’s Gun Maw will arrive in Chaing Mai for talks

Maj-Gen Sumlut Gun Maw, Vice Chief of Staff of KIA took press conference at Rangoon on Nov. 18.

High ranking Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) leader Major General Sumlut Gun Maw will arrive in Chiang Mai later today to attend further talks between the government and Burma’s rebel groups.  Representatives of at least 11 Burmese political parties including the National League for Democracy (NLD) are also expected to attend the talks which are being organized by the government controlled Myanmar Peace Center (MPC).

KIA orders troops not to respond after Burma army captures IDP camp

A frontline camp of KIA soldiers in Waingmaw township, eastern Kachin state in northern Burma.

Senior officials at the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) Laiza headquarters issued instructions on Tuesday ordering troops in the field not to respond militarily to the Burma army’s recent capture of the Nam Lim Pa internally displaced people camp in southern Kachin state, the Kachin News Group has learned.

Burma army kills Kachin farmer in Mansi township

Two Burmese soldiers of Light Infantry Division No. 33 stand on Myitkyina-Kambaiti road in eastern Kachin state.

Maraw Gun, an unarmed Kachin farmer was shot and killed by Burma army troops when he returned home to his village in Manje (also Mansi) township in southern Kachin state for the rice harvest on November 14, the man’s relatives tell the Kachin News Group (KNG).

Burma army uses aid convoy to captures KIO controlled IDP camp

Burmese government soldiers.

Burma army troops took control of an internally displaced people's camp in southern Kachin state from the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on Saturday November 16th by taking advantage of an aid convoy which traveled to the area, according to KIO officials.

Burma army soldier accused of raping 7-year-old Kachin girl

Burma Army soldiers in Myitkyina the capital of Kachin state, northern Burma.

A Burma army soldier based in Shan state has been accused of raping a 7-year-old Kachin girl.  Family members of the alleged victim say the incident took place in the girl's home in Muse township on November 11.  The alleged perpetrator is a man named Ko Win Htwe from the Theinni (or Hsenwi)-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 323, the young girls' relatives tell the Kachin News Group.

“Ethnic Armed Revolutionary” talks end early in Myitkyina

Talks between Burma's government and 16 armed rebel groups including the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) ended in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina on Tuesday without a breakthrough. The talks ended earlier than expected, according to reports from Myitkyina.

RFA Kachin Language TV Program, 2013 October 2nd Week

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Photo News: Oct-30-2013 Burma's Ethic Armed Summit Laiza

Burma's ethnic armed groups begin ceasefire summit in Laiza

Eight Kachin women with different cultural suits at opening ceremony of Burma's ethnic armed group conference in Laiza, the capital of Kachin Independence Organization.

Zau Awng, Laiza — The historic summit of Burma's ethnic armed groups focusing on a government-planned national ceasefire pact began on Wednesday in Laiza, headquarters of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in Kachin state, northern Burma.

UN “deeply concerned” as fighting worsens in Southern Kachin state

The United Nations is “deeply concerned” about the situation facing civilians in southern Kachin state's Mansi Township as clashes between the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) armed wing and the military continued in the area. The fighting threatens the safety of large numbers of internally displaced people (IDP) who have been sheltering in Nam Lim Pa and Mung Ding Pa villages.

UN's Nambiar fails to help Kachin trapped by army

Mr. Nambiar

At an October 11th meeting several senior officials from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) sat down with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, to discuss the fate of a group of villagers trapped in the far north of the state. During the meeting the KBC representatives asked Nambiar and the UN to assist in the evacuation of 53 villagers from Putao District's Nhka Ga village, according to KBC officials.

Burma army attacks IDP camps as offensive continues in southern Kachin state

Burma's military has been accused of attacking and then looting internally displaced persons camps in southern Kachin state earlier this week. According to representatives of the UK based Kachin National Organization, the largest Kachin diaspora group, on Tuesday morning army units engaged in an offensive against Kachin Independence Army positions in Mansi Township, firing shells at an IDP camp located in Mung Ding Pa village.

Burma army traps 700 Kachin civilians in church for three days

Burmese soldiers.

Government forces have confined an estimated 700 Kachin civilians, mostly women and children, to a church compound in southern Kachin state's Mansi township, the Kachin News Group has learned.  The army's refusal to let any of the trapped villagers leave church grounds comes amid escalating tensions between the military and the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

Clashes between KIA and Burma army continues in Mabein and Mansi

Fighting between Burma government forces and the Kachin Independence Army continued yesterday in northern Shan state’s Mabein township, an area bordering Kachin state and the territory of KIA battalion 12 under 3rd brigade, the Kachin News Group has learned.

KIO withdraws two posts in Burma's northern Shan state

A KIA soldier secures Laiza headquarters in eastern Kachin state, northern Burma.

Last week troops from the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) armed wing withdrew from two posts in western Shan state's Mabein township close to the Kachin state border, according to KIO officials. The withdrawal took place after Burmese government officials met with a KIO delegation in Kachin state’s capital Myitkyina on October 8th to 10th.

Burma Army implicated in torture of Kachin pastor

Major Myo Min Htun, a deputy commander from the Burma army's Infantry Battalion No. 137, is directly responsible for the torture of reverend Ram Mai in September in northern Kachin state's Putao district, according to officials from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC).  The KBC is the largest church organization in Kachin state where a majority of the Kachin population is Baptist.

3 injured, Burma Army retreats following clash in Mabein

At least three government soldiers were injured in two mine attacks by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on Wednesday morning, after Burmese troops attempted to invade KIA territory in Shan state's Nam Hkam township. Burma Army troops have since retreated from KIA-controlled Man Sawn and have returned to their base in nearby Nam Hkam.

Burma Army and KIA clash in Mabein township

Fighting broke out between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Mabein township of northern Shan state around 5pm on Tuesday evening, five days after the latest round of peace talks in Kachin state capital Myitkyina, said KIA officials.

Burma's Kachin talks end without full ceasefire agreement

Burmese government's peace negotiator Aung Min (right) shake handed with Sumlut Gam, leader of KIO delegation on Oct. 10.

Three days of peace talks between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and government negotiators ended today in Myitkyina with a positive joint statement from both sides. The joint statement indicated that both the KIO and the government were in favor of moving forward with the 7 point agreement reached in May aimed at deescalating tensions. The statement stopped short however of declaring a full ceasefire.

KIO talks proceed as Burma army jets fly low over Myitkyina

As representatives of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) sat down with government negotiators for the first day of talks in Myitkyina on Tuesday, two military jets flew over the Kachin state capital at a very low altitude. The roaring sounds of the Chinese built jets could be heard inside Majoi Gawknu hall where the peace talks were taking place, according to witnesses. The fly over took place sometime after 1 PM on Tuesday afternoon.

Aung Min down plays recent Kachin clashes as Burma army sends more troops

U Aung Min with holding KIO flag

During an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) this week President Thein Sein's chief negotiator, Aung Min, sought to down play recent clashes between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the military.  “Only 29 small clashes have occurred within the past four months” Aung Min claimed before adding that the “fighting has decreased by 90 percent."   While the frequency and intensity of the clashes has noticeably decreased since January when heavy fighting took place near the KIO's de facto capital Laiza, it is unclear if the fighting has really been reduced by 90% as Aung Min maintains. Beginning in late August and carrying into September heavy fighting broke out between KIO and the military in northern Kachin state's Putao district, an area where until this point little fighting had occurred.

KIO's convoy arrives in Myitkyina for talks

Vice-chief of staff of the Kachin Independence Army Major General Gun Maw arrives in Myitkyina on Monday afternoon (Photo Jade Land).

On Monday afternoon a convoy carrying senior Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) leader Major General Sumlut Gun Maw reached Myitkyina, the Kachin state capital. Arriving in what appeared to be a green hummer the popular KIO leader made a grand entrance to the KIO's recently re-opened Myitkyina office compound. Gun Maw and the rest of the negotiating team were met with a large crowd of well-wishers at the gates of the compound which is across the street from the Myitkyina's Manau park.

Smoke from shells makes KIO troops sick in Shan state

A gas mask for chemical protection was used by KIA soldiers during Ntat Bum war on Myitkyina-Bhamo highway in November 2011.

Last Friday troops from Burma's military fired shells containing an unknown chemical at Kachin Independence Army (KIA) forces in Shan state, an officer with the KIA claims.

Burma army officer not beheaded by KIO say villagers

A KIA soldier takes position at a frontline near Laiza headquarters in eastern Kachin state.

Residents of Nhka Ga village in Putao district recently told a group of visiting officials from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) that the Burma army officer reportedly killed by Kachin Independence Army forces on August 29, was not decapitated as has been alleged by the military.

Burma army kills Kachin civilians in Putao district as others barred from fleeing

Burma army officers and a local pro-government Ahdang militia in Putao district,, northern Kachin state

Three villagers including an assistant pastor were killed in northern Kachin state's Putao district last month after they were detained by soldiers from Infantry Battalions No. 137, according to Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) officials.

Fever spreads in Burma's Kachin IDP camp

Zai Awng or Mung Ga Zup IDP camp in Waingmaw township in eastern Kachin state.

Fevers and colds have spread throughout Zai Awng (also known as Mung Ga Zup) internally displaced people's (IDP) camp in Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) controlled territory in eastern Kachin state's Waingmaw township, according to relief officials from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC).

Military sends more troops and supplies to northern Kachin state

A Chinese built Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane of Burma military.

Aircraft belonging to Burma's military were recently observed unloading troops and supplies at the Putao airport in northern Kachin state, according to local residents. The arrival of reinforcements in Putao comes just weeks before government negotiators and representatives of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) are supposed to meet early next month for peace talks.

New Kachin political party files with election commission

KDP leader Gumgrawng Awng Hkam

The newly created Kachin Democratic Party (KDP), filed registration papers with national election authorities earlier this month, according to party leader Gumgrawng Awng Hkam. Awng Hkam, who normally resides in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, travelled to Naypyidaw to submit his party's papers in person on September 4th.  The party was formed by like-minded people from Kachin civil society who are interested in pursuing politics, Awng Hkam told the Kachin News Group during a phone interview.

Tay Za funds Kachin mountain expedition as IDP suffer nearby

A group of American and Burmese climbers reached the summit of Kachin state's Gamlang Razi on Sept. 7 with the financial backing of crony Tay Za (photo facebook).

A mountaineering expedition in northern Kachin state, financed by Burmese billionaire Tay Za's Htoo foundation, successfully reached the summit of Burma's second highest mountain earlier this month. The team which included five Americans and a Burmese became the first ever climbers to reach Gamlang Razi summit on September 7, according to press reports.

Burmese soldiers confiscated church alms during Nhka Ga interrogation

The KBC office in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state.

Burmese government soldiers purportedly robbed the entire alms collection of Kachin Baptist Church in Nhka Ga village, where fighting between government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has been ongoing since Aug. 28, according to aid workers stationed in the village.

Burma army official admits interrogation of Rev. Ram Mai

Maj-Gen Tun Tun Naung, commander of Burma Army Northern Regional Military Command, conceded yesterday that government soldiers interrogated Rev. Ram Mai in early September, according to Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC). Rev. Ram Mai, a pastor in Kachin's Putao district, was allegedly detained along with several other villagers and tortured during questioning.

KIO meets with Burmese gov negotiators amid rise in fighting

Gawlu La Awng who heads the KIO Technical Advisory Team office in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state.

As fighting between Burmese government forces and troops loyal to the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) intensifies across Kachin and parts of northern Shan state, representatives from both sides met this week in Myitkyina, the Kachin state capital.

Second round of UN aid reaches IDPs in Laiza

UN aid convoy arrived Laiza on Sept. 16.

Much needed basic food rations from United Nations aid groups has reached internally displaced people in Laiza, the capital and headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) near the China border in Burma’s northern Kachin state.

Burma army sends more troops to Pangwa

Over the past few weeks hundreds of Burma army reinforcements have been deployed to the Pangwa area in northeastern Kachin state, in order to shore up pro-government border guard force (BGF) units, according to a former member of the militia.

Burma army shells KIA position on Myitkyina-Bhamo highway

A Burmese soldier of Light Infantry Division No. 33 on Kambaiti road, eastern Kachin state.

The Burma Army repeatedly shelled a mobile-battalion position of the Kachin Independence Army on the Myitkyina-Bhamo highway in eastern Kachin state on September 14, KIA officials told Kachin News Group.

Burma army troops assault Kachin pastor in Putao

A Kachin Baptist pastor and his family members were physically assaulted by Burma army forces in Kachin state's northern Putao district earlier this month, according to friends of the alleged victims. Army troops are said to have beaten up Ram Mai and his family as fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the government forces broke out near the pastor's village at Nhka Ga.

Burmese billionaire Tay Za wants 600,000 acres in Putao for gold project

Tay Za

A firm owned by Burmese billionaire tycoon Tay Za has requested government officials, grant 600,000 acres (240,000 hectare) of land in northern Kachin's state Putao (also Putau) region for a gold mining project, the Kachin News Group has learned. Tay Za, who owns Htoo Trading and many related firms, has extensive business interests across Burma and is well known for having close ties to General Than Shwe.

Villagers flee as fighting continues in southern Kachin state

Dozens of Kachin villagers living in southern Mansi (Manje) township fled their homes yesterday as fighting between Burma's military and troops loyal to the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) continued for the second straight day, according to church related aid groups monitoring the situation.

Burma govt and KIO battle in southern Kachin state

Fighting between the Burmese government and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) broke out Tuesday morning in Nam Lim Pa area near the Kachin/Shan state border, said local church and KIO officials.

Burmese authorities block evacuating Kachin war refugees

Burmese president Thein Sein

About 100 Kachin war refugees in the isolated Putao district of Burma’s northern Kachin state have been blocked by local government authorities, according to sources from a local church.

Burma Army troops plunder abandoned Kachin farms

Two Burmese soldiers on Kambaiti road in eastern Kachin state.

Government forces stationed at bases along the Myitkyina to Kambaiti road in Kachin state have been harvesting fruit and other crops from farms owned by displaced Kachin families, angry farmers tell the Kachin News Group.