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.


Reached for comment the head of KIA Battalion 12 Major Labang Jawn Awng confirmed during a phone interview that two men from his battalion, Captain Hpaude Hkang Maw and Palai Naw Lai, were killed during the incident.

“Government forces ambushed us on a road. We mistakenly entered an area that was surrounded by them,” said Major Labang Jawn Awng, whose battalion is under the KIA third brigade.

The ambush which occurred in the morning triggered heavy fighting that lasted nearly the whole day as the KIA unit successfully fought its way out of the area, according to Jawn Awng.  Another KIA soldier sustained a head injury during the fighting Jawn Awng said.

It is unknown how many government troops were killed or injured during the fighting.

On the same day of the incident, government reinforcements arrived in nearby U Lang Pa, according to KIA officers stationed at the frontline.  The reinforcements appear to have come from a base at Kai Htik.

On November 19 KIA battalion 12 was ordered by senior commanders at the group’s Laiza headquarters not to attack government troops who captured Nam Lim Pa refugee camp, according to Commander Jawn Awng.

Government forces seized the refugee camp shortly after a catholic church operated aid convoy reached the camp. The army's takeover of the camps was made possible because the army deliberately took advantage of the fact that the KIA wouldn't shoot near a humanitarian convoy, according to Commander Jawn Awng.

The army troops who seized the camp are under the control of the Bhamo (or Manmaw) based Military Operation Command-21 (MOC-21).  Despite orders that the KIA not attack government forces fighting broke out anyways because government forces continued their offensive against the KIA, said Jawn Awng.

According to Jawn Awng, the KIA lost 10 soldiers with an additional 10 injured in southern Kachin state over the past two months.  He estimated that government casualties were likely significantly higher.

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