The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allies say they have seized Myanmar junta Infantry Battalion 237 headquarters after a week of attacks in Bhamo District.
Colonel Naw Bu, the KIA’s spokesman, said the base near Dasai village in Momauk Township was seized on Thursday. He said more than 20 regime outposts had fallen in the last week.
“We seized all the bunkers around the base first, then we occupied the headquarters. Our forces are clearing the area,” said Col Naw Bu.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
The KIA, Arakan Army, Kachin People’s Defense Force (PDF) and other groups were involved in the operation.
The junta has responded with shelling and airstrikes around Laiza near Momauk where the KIA’s headquarters are based.
The PDF said after the battalion base fell, the junta responded with airstrikes and shelling from other bases in Bhamo Township.
“We killed at least 40 soldiers and seized over 200 weapons and piles of ammunition,” said a PDF member.
A video on Kachin media shows anti-regime forces inside the battalion base with numerous seized light weapons.
The 400-hectare Battalion 237 headquarters was established in 2005 on the road linking Laiza to upper Bhamo District.
On March 8, the KIA and its allies captured Infantry Battalion 142’s headquarters in Dawthponeyan town without heavy fighting after junta troops waved white flags.
Battalion 142 had more than 100 troops, also on the Myitkyina-Bhamo road.
U Htet Myat, a former army captain who joined the civil disobedience movement, said the fall of Battalion 237 showed the junta’s increasing weakness.
He said it was a branch of the 21st Military Operations Command (MOC) in Bhamo, which could not help the base with reinforcements.
“It reveals the decline of the junta,” said Capt Htet Myat, who previously served at 21st MOC.
KIA attacks continue along the road with a focus on the jade-mining hub of Hpakant Township. About 70 percent of the valuable township is now reportedly in KIA hands.
The KIA is also fighting alongside PDFs in upper Sagaing Region.
