The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) seized a junta military outpost in Au Lan Pa Village, Mansi Township, Kachin State on Tuesday morning, according to the ethnic armed organization (EAO) and area residents.
The KIA, the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), launched the attack on the outpost, where dozens of troops belonging to the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 250 were stationed, at around 6 a.m., said KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu.
Mansi residents and KIA personnel on the ground said the clash lasted four hours, ending with the KIA’s successful seizure of the outpost.
They said the military fired artillery shells from bases in Bhamo and Moemauk, but no civilian injuries or deaths were reported, as residents of villages in the area all fled a few months ago.
The KIA’s Liaison Office had not yet received further details on the seizure of the outpost in Mansi, which is the fourth base the junta has lost in Kachin and northern Shan State to the KIA and allied resistance forces since it bombed Mung Lai Hkyet village shortly before midnight on Oct. 9, massacring at least 29 civilians, including children.
The KIA and allied resistance groups seized the Lal Long Aungja base in Moemauk Township on Oct. 20. Lieutenant General Gunmaw, the vice chair of the KIO, visited the base on Monday and offered encouragement to KIA fighters on the frontline.
U Yee Mon, defence minister of the National Unity Government (NUG), provided details about the seizure of the Aungja base. He said the position was manned by hundreds of junta troops, and the allied resistance forces seized a large cache of weapons equivalent to the amount required to equip a battalion of the NUG’s People’s Defense Force (PDF).
“The victory in Aungja has broken the dream of the military council to threaten the headquarters of revolutionary organizations and is also an initial step in the strategic operations launched jointly by the revolutionary forces,” he posted on his social media page on Wednesday.
On Oct. 18, the KIA and allied forces seized Nga Bat Gyi camp located about 1.5 km from Shwegyu Town, Kachin State, which serves as a staging post for junta troop reinforcements deployed to Kachin State via the Irrawaddy River.
The next day, a junta military 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 was seized for a second time by the KIA and allies.
In an acknowledgement letter sent to allied resistance groups and EAOs dated Oct. 22, KIA Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Khaung Lun said the PDF, Arakan Army (AA), All Burma Students’ Defense Force – Northern Burma (ABSDF-NB), Chin National Army (CNA) and Kuki National Army (Burma) (KNA-Burma), had helped it fight off junta military offensives around Laiza, where the KIA’s headquarters is located, this month.
