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.

The officials said that several rounds of 105mm howitzer and 120mm mortar were launched from a government military base at Gangdau Yang, landing on the KIA base in Ja Hta. Parts of the highway were immediately shut down.

Members of the same Burma Army battalion allegedly attacked the Ja Hta post in early September when the first UN aid convoy headed toward IDP camps in Laiza, according to KIA officials. A second round of UN aid was delivered on Tuesday, though it is unclear if the incidents are related.

Gangdau Yang is located between the government-controlled Myitkyina and the KIO headquarters of Laiza, stationed by Burma Army’s Light Infantry Division No. 33. A KIA officer in Hpalap Bum, the mobile-battalion headquarters, told KNG under condition of anonymity that the Gangdau Yang military base regularly launches artillery on KIA positions, and their frontline presence is increasing near KIA outposts.

The officer said that the KIA made no military response to Saturday's attack.

Clashes occurred in two other parts of Kachin state on Saturday, Sumprabum and Chipwi townships, said KIA officials in Laiza.

Fresh conflict also erupted in Manje (also called Mansi) township in Bhamo, (or Manmaw) district in southern Kachin state when KIA battalion 12 forces surrounded a column of Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion No. 323, which intruded KIA territory near Nam Lim Pa on September 10.  Three columns of government reinforcement--- Light Infantry Battalion No. 522, Infantry Battalion No. 69, IB No. 240 - were resisted by the KIA battalion 12 and 27 forces under KIA 3rd brigade.

Lamai Gum Ja, a member of Myitkyina-based Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG), said that KIA forces allowed the Burma Army troops to withdraw, putting an end the six day stand-off.

Conflict has escalated over the past weeks despite the signing in May of a seven-point agreement to work towards an eventual ceasefire.

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