Amid ongoing fighting near Laiza, a town controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Kachin State, the ethnic armed group on Saturday and Sunday attacked junta troops near Kutkai Town in northern Shan State, residents of the town said.
The clashes followed a near five-month lull in fighting between the KIA and junta troops in the northern part of the Shan State.
“Clashes will continue if the Myanmar military continues to deploy its troops [in KIA areas],” KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy.
On Sunday morning, the KIA shelled junta troops guarding a telecom tower near Nampachi Village, about eight kilometers south of Kutkai, a resident of the town said.
“Three junta soldiers were killed and four others were seriously injured,” he said.
More junta troops arrived at the scene following the attack and transported the injured to a military hospital in Kutkai town, he added.
On Sunday evening, a convoy of 13 military vehicles heading from Lashio to Kutkai was attacked by KIA forces using remotely detonated landmines near Manbyein Village.
“Five junta soldiers were killed in the mine attack on the military convoy. The attack took place about 19 kilometers outside the town,” said another Kutkai resident.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the casualty figures. The Northeastern Command of the Myanmar junta is based in Lashio, in northern Shan State, while three infantry battalions and Artillery Battalion 347 are based in Kutkai.
A woman in Naphai Village was injured when a junta infantry battalion based in a village north of Kutkai shelled her village at about 7pm on Sunday, following the land mine attack.
“We were told by [Naphai] villagers that a female villager was hit in her head when an artillery shell fired by Infantry Battalion 123 based in Namphatka [Village] hit her house,” said one resident of Kutkai Town.
On Saturday, a clash broke out between KIA and junta troops providing security on the road between Nampachi and Manbyein villages south of Kutkai. The Lashio-Muse Highway was temporarily closed on July 9 due to the fighting.
“There have been some skirmishes, [but] I haven’t received reports about casualties from either side. I don’t know if there were civilian casualties. The clashes happened because the Myanmar military has entered our area,” the KIA spokesman said.
The clashes took place in areas controlled by KIA brigades six and four, he said.
They were the first clashes in the northern part of the state since February when the two sides fought heavily for three days to the north of Kutkai Town. The fighting took place as combined forces of junta soldiers from Light Infantry Division 99 and junta-affiliated militias based in Muse invaded the area controlled by KIA Brigade 6. The regime’s military also carried out air raids during the fighting in February, Kutkai residents said.
