Despite China’s calls for it to stop fighting against the Myanmar junta, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has reopened an offensive front in the country’s northernmost Putao District, Kachin State, by seizing an outpost from a militia group under the junta’s military.
At around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 the KIA, the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), and allies seized the outpost in La He Si Bum Village, Khaunglanhpu Township, where at least 70 junta troops and militia group members were stationed, according to a KIO statement.
The outpost is located between Khaunglanhpu in Putao District and Sawlaw in Chipwi District. KIA frontline sources said their forces moved into that area from Phimaw, adding that the captured outpost was an important position for the junta in Putao on the Chinese border.
By seizing the outpost in Khaunglanhpu, the KIA has resumed offensive actions in Putao, which were paused after it took full control of Sumprabum in May. Putao District includes Putao, Sumprabum, Machanbaw, Khaunglanhpu, Naungmon and Pannandin towns. Located on the border with China, the district is an attractive destination for tourists from around the world for its variety of birds, rare orchids and other natural wonders.
When Chinese Communist Party Central Committee member Wu Gang met with a KIA delegation led by N’Ban La, the chairman of the KIO, in Kunming, China last week, China renewed its push for the KIA to stop fighting against the Myanmar junta in their state and to safeguard Chinese investments.
A source said, “China told the KIA to maintain the status quo and engage in political talks with the regime after the election” planned by the junta for late next year.
China has been pressuring ethnic armed groups in northern and northeastern Myanmar that it has close ties with to stop fighting after they seized major towns and trade routes between the Chinese border and Mandalay in the country’s center.
However, the KIA and allies have defied China’s pressure to stop fighting. Instead, they have reopened the fight in Putao district simultaneously with their ambitious operation to seize Bhamo, a strategic hub in Kachin State.
The KIA has been busy trying to seize junta-controlled Bhamo on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy River since Dec. 4, when it and its allies launched an offensive against the junta’s military bases in town. The KIA has already taken control of two thirds of the town area, according to residents.
On Monday, the KIA and allies launched heavy attacks on the regime’s Military Operations Command 21 (MOC-21) and Infantry Battalion 47 headquarters in Bhamo. The junta is relying heavily on airstrikes and shelling to defend the town.
Since the coup, the KIA, along with its allies including the People’s Defense Force under the National Unity Government, has seized approximately 300 junta outposts and bases. It has also captured 14 towns and all of the former Special Region-1, a global hub for rare earth mining. The KIA recently abolished Special Region-1 as an entity. It has also seized two towns in northern Shan State.
