The regime has lost three bases in Kachin and northern Shan State to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied resistance forces since it bombed Mung Lai Hkyet Village shortly before midnight on October 9, massacring at least 29 civilians, including children.
The KIA said it seized another strategic junta base near Nam San Yang Village in Momauk Township, about 5.6 miles from its headquarters in Kachin State’s Laiza Town, on Friday.
KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told the Irrawaddy on Saturday that the armed ethnic group had seized the junta’s Lal Long base in Momauk on Friday afternoon.
“It is a key outpost in a strategic location as it is situated near Nam San Yang Village on the Myitkyina-Bhamo Road, which can access Laiza Town, Winemaw and Bhamo townships,” he explained.
The junta responded with an air strike near the site at about 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, he added.
KIA troops seized the camp at about 3:00 p.m. after fierce fighting that began in the early morning, according to local reports. The military regime launched air strikes and heavy shelling in the area but failed to deter the attack, Kachin media outlets reported, citing sources close to the KIA.
At least 50 junta troops were killed and three were captured during the battle for the base, the reports said.
The KIA declined to disclose the number of junta troop casualties.
Pro-junta Telegram channels reported that junta infantry temporarily retreated from its base because its troops were outnumbered by resistance forces and will try to recapture it soon.
KIA Brigade 6 in northern Shan State was also bombed by junta warplanes on Friday, according to the KIA.
“As far as we know, four KIA members were killed and one was injured by junta bombing,” Colonel Naw Bu said. No high-ranking officers were among the dead, he added.
The air strikes followed the seizure of a junta camp located at the base of Wane Lar Mountain near Mong Ko Town in Muse Township in northern Shan State near the Myanmar-China border on Thursday.
The regime’s military suffered heavy casualties during the clash and the KIA seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition, Kachin News Group reported.
On Wednesday, KIA Battalion 12 and the Shwegu People’s Defense Force ambushed a junta outpost that had served as a military communication camp near Nag Bat Gyi Village on Shwegu-Bhamo Road in Kachin State.
They seized the body of a junta soldier killed in the clash, along with weapons, ammunition and rations, Shwegu PDF said.
Nga Bat Gyi camp is located slightly less than a mile from Shwegu Town, which serves as a staging post for junta troop reinforcements deployed to Kachin State via the Ayeyarwady River.
The KIA has been fighting against junta forces in Muse and Kutkai townships in neighboring northern Shan State since June. It is also fighting junta troops alongside resistance groups in the upper Sagaing Region.
