The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied resistance forces seized a junta military outpost in a gold- and amber-rich part of Tanai Township, Kachin State on Thursday morning after six days of attacks, according to a statement from the KIA.
The KIA and its allies launched an attack on the junta’s Nambyu outpost in Nambyu Village in Tanai on May 11. The outpost was manned by over 70 junta troops from Infantry Battalions 297 and 260, according to the KIA, the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).
KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu confirmed the seizure of the junta base on Thursday, adding that it is the fourth outpost the KIA and its allies have seized in Tanai Township since they launched a wider offensive in the area on March 7.
“Nambyu is one of the outposts used to control the areas where the gold and amber mines are located. Therefore, it is an important outpost, as the junta’s military has earned a lot of money from those mining hubs,” he said.
However, at least four other junta outposts remain in the area, he added.
On March 7, the KIA and its allies, which include the Kachin State People’s Defense Force and the ethnic Arakan Army (AA) based in Rakhine State, launched coordinated attacks on junta bases in Sumprabum and Tanai townships and along the road linking the state capital Myitkyina with Bhamo. On March 18, they seized a junta outpost to the north in Namkawn Village, Tanai Township, where troops from Infantry Battalion 297 were stationed.
Nambyu is one of the outposts the Myanmar military established in the Hukawng Valley of Tanai Township after wresting control of the area from the KIA in 2017. It is of strategic importance not only because of its location, but also for its natural resources, particularly gold and amber.
Additionally, Tanai is a strategically important township for the junta’s military in northern Kachin State, as its Regional Operations Command 2 and other battalion headquarters are located there.
Col. Naw Bu said the allied resistance forces would continue to attack all the junta bases and headquarters in the township.
Military tensions remain high in southern and eastern Kachin State, though there were no major clashes in Bhamo Township in the past two days.
In and around Mansi and Momauk townships—half of each of which the KIA now controls—the junta’s military has conducted airstrikes almost every day this week, prompting an estimated 10,000 people to flee their homes.
On May 13 alone, over 20 houses and a school were destroyed in a junta airstrike on Mansi town, according to residents.
Col. Naw Bu said further intense fighting was expected in Mansi, Momauk, Sumprabum, Putao and Waingmaw townships in the coming weeks.
