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.

The frontline posts located at Je U and Nam Hkan east of the Shweli river (N’mau Hka in Kachin) were abandoned by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) battalion 12 troops manning them. After departing from the posts the troops headed west to KIA Battalion 12 territory in Mansi (or Manje) township in Bhamo (or Manmaw) district, said Doi Pyi Sa, head of the KIO’s IDP and Refugee Committee.

Burmese troops now control Je U and Nam Hkan which is close to the KIO run Nam Lim Pa IDP camp, said Doi Pyi Sa. The camp which is home to more than 1,000 displaced people is located inside Kachin state near the Chinese border.

Fighting broke out at Nam Hawm village near Je U on October 15. The clash involved KIA Battalion 12 forces and a column of troops from the Burma Army’s Light Infantry Division No. 99, according to KIA Battalion 12 officials.

On Tuesday morning government forces fired artillery shells for four or five times at Mungding Pa, a KIA Battalion 12 controlled village in Manje township, according to a Bhamo (or Manmaw) based Kachin church official.

A KIA officer told Kachin News Group that the Burmese troops entered the village Tuesday afternoon at 3 pm. Doi Pyi Sa told KNG he could only confirm that government forces had fired artillery at the village because communication with the area remains poor.

Over the last few days government forces have repeatedly encroached on KIA battalion 12 territory at Mungding Pa and Kawng Ja, Doi Pyi Sa said.

The KIO remains Burma's only major armed ethnic group not to sign a ceasefire with the central government. At the end of this month representatives from all Burma armed ethnic groups are expected to attend an unprecedented all ethnic rebel group meeting in Laiza, the KIO's de facto capital.

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