Burma army and KIA battle for second straight day in Shan state

The MHH fighters in Pangsai (Kyukok) area in Northern Shan State.

Units from the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) continued to clash Thursday morning, as fighting in the Pangsai (Kyukok) area of northern Shan state carried over for the second straight day.


The fighting broke out at 9 am local time near Seng Htu Hkyet (Jang Hpang Kawng) in the same area where clashes took place yesterday, said Zau Seng, a commander from the Pangsai-based 5th Section unit of the Mungshawa Hpyen Hpung (MHH or People's Army in Kachin), a militia affiliated with the KIA's civilian wing the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). The MHH are a civilian force made up of local Kachin volunteers who frequently fight alongside regular KIA forces.

The latest clashes involved troops from the Burma Army’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 507 and a combined group of troops from KIA Battalion 36 and their allies with the 5th Section of the MHH battalion, according to Zau Seng.

“The fighting began after a column of Burmese troops intruded into Seng Htu Hkyet where we have been planning to set up our base,” said Zau Seng. It is not yet known whether there were any casualties from either side.

About a quarter of the KIO's territory is located in Kachin inhabited areas of northern Shan state, a fact often neglected in much of the news coverage of conflict. A long section of territory controlled by the KIO in Shan state lies along the route of the Shwe pipeline project's twin oil and natural gas pipelines which are supposed to be finished very soon.

When completed, the pipelines will send gas and oil from Burma's Arakan (Rakhine) coast to China's Yunnan region, a distance of nearly 800 KM. Although the Shwe pipeline project may not be the primary reason behind the army's offensive against the KIO, many observers believe that it has certainly fueled the conflict.

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