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| KIA troops in Pangsai (Kyukok) area in Muse township, northern Shan state. |
Troops from Burma's armed forces exchanged gun fire with forces loyal to the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in northern Shan state this past Tuesday, according to local residents.
Fighting first broke out at Loi Lawm, this was followed by another clash at Loi Dang near Mungbaw which is located in Muse township, according to a villager from Pangsai (Kyukok).
Both skirmishes involved troops from the Burma Army’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 578 and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) forces based in the Mongkoe area who are affiliated with the group's 4th Brigade, according to a KIA officer stationed in Pangsai.
According to the KIA officers, one KIA soldier from Battalion 38 died during the fighting at Loi Lawm. A soldier from the KIA affiliated militia, known in Kachin as Mungshawa Kanawn Mazum also died during the fighting at Loi Dang, the officer added.
Local eyewitnesses tell the Kachin News Group that shortly after the clashes they saw Burmese troops transporting the bodies of four of their dead comrades.
Tensions have increased in the Pangsai area considerably since a Burmese army column from Infantry Battalion No. 69 arrived on Thursday with over 60 troops, according to Zau Seng, a commander with another KIA, affiliated militia based in the Pangsai area known as the Mungshawa Hpyen Hpung (MHH).
Troop movements on the ground indicate that the Burmese government is moving forward with its plan to expel all KIA forces from the Mongkoe area, former territory of the now defunct Communist Party of Burma (CBP), Zau Seng said.
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