Fighting is continuing in Kachin State’s second city, Bhamo, after the Kachin Independence Army and its allies are struggling to overcome the junta’s Military Operation Command 21 headquarters.
The regime is responding with airstrikes, drones and shelling to defend the base.
KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy that regime transport helicopters have been reinforcing the headquarters with Y12 and Y8 airplanes parachuting food and supplies every day.
“The troops at the headquarters are struggling. They’re short of food and ammunition but they continue to fight,” said Col Naw Bu.
Up to 50 airstrikes are being conducted per day, according to resistance sources.
Bhamo is strategically located on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy River with around 30 military bases.
A military analyst said if Bhamo falls, the regime would lose control of the entire area east of the Irrawaddy in Kachin State.
“If the junta holds Bhamo, it could break through to the eastern side of the Irrawaddy. If it falls, places like Shwegu and Katha will swiftly be exposed. That’s why the junta is determined to hold Bhamo,” the analyst said.
He said around 3,000 junta troops were defending Bhamo, including soldiers who retreated from other Kachin bases, including adjacent Mansi, which fell in January.
Anti-regime groups seized Momauk town next to Bhamo in August last year.
The KIA and its allies first attacked Bhamo on December 4 and several battalion headquarters and its airport have since fallen.
After the KIA’s quake truce ended on April 22, fighting for Bhamo resumed on April 25.
KIA-led groups took control of Indaw town in northern Sagaing Region in early April after around eight months of fighting.
Since the 2021 coup, the KIA has been training, supplying and fighting alongside newly formed People’s Defense Forces and other resistance groups in Kachin State, Sagaing Region and northern Shan State.
The KIA and its allies have seized over 300 junta positions and around 15 towns in Kachin State, Sagaing Region and northern Shan State.
Ah Htoi contributed to this story.
