The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) launched an onslaught against junta positions along the road to the border trade town of Kanpiketi in Kachin State’s Waingmaw Township on Tuesday, seizing three by evening, according to KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu.
The KIA captured a junta checkpoint between Waingmaw and Sadung, a position on Bwan Taung Hill, and an outpost of Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion 1003 between Sadung and Kanpiketi, said Col. Naw Bu.
“We seized three positions today, and clashes are also taking place in other locations. We have intercepted junta reinforcements from Waingmaw,” the spokesman said on Tuesday.
The captured positions had been guarded by junta soldiers and junta-affiliated militias, he added.
The regime responded by using missile launchers and howitzers to bombard Sadung and its vicinity, as well as KIA and allied forces advancing from their Kashi base. Two Mi 35 helicopter gunships also provided fire support for junta ground troops, according to sources.
In May, ethnic Kachin armed groups seized three junta bases in Waingmaw Township, including Light Infantry Battalion 321 headquarters and a Kashi base.
The strategically significant 13th mile checkpoint seized by the KIA on Tuesday sits on the junction of the Waingmaw-Sadung-Kanpiketi road and Waingmaw-Chipwe-Sawlaw road.
The recaptured outpost was responsible for guarding BGF Battalion 1003 based in Sinkyaing village, Waingmaw Township. The ethnic Laphai area was previously under the control of the KIA, which ran a school and checkpoint there but retreated following Myanmar military attacks in 2011.
Kanpiketi is among major Kachin border trade hubs with China.
“It’s an important route for trade flows,” commented Col. Naw Bu.
“We launched attacks there to protect our Battalion No. 3 and local residents. We have to fight because junta troops are deployed along the route and restricting our movement.”
KIA forces are also attacking the nearby Deinga base and a junta tactical command in Sadung, according to Kachin media reports. Col. Naw Bu said he did not know details on the ground.
A military analyst said the KIA’s next objective will be to seize Sadung town, which hosts a large force of junta troops. It will however take more time to capture Kanpiketi since the KIA must exercise restraint to avoid offending Beijing.
“KIA troops have seized the 13th mile base between Waingmaw and Sadung, and the Laphai base between Sadung and Kanpiketi. So they have surrounded Sadung and will gain control over the border trade route when it falls. Sadung is some distance from the border, so the KIA will be able to attack freely. But Kanpiketi is on the border, so fighting will be limited like when the KIA attacked Lwegel. It will take time,” the military analyst said.
Kachin State has three junta-affiliated border guard force battalions, all led by Kachin militia leader Zakhung Ting Ying. They are Border Guard Force Battalion 1001 based in Phimaw, Border Guard Force Battalion 1002 based in Panwa, and Border Guard Force Battalion 1003 based in Kanpiketi. Other Kachin militia groups are also fighting for the regime.
Zakhung Ting Ying split with the KIA to form the New Democratic Army-Kachin, which came under the control of the Myanmar military when it converted to a Border Guard Force in 2009 under the army-drafted 2008 constitution. He won an upper house seat in the 2010 general election.
