Myanmar junta troops have launched a fierce counterattack to reclaim Light Infantry Battalion 437 in Kachin State’s Momauk town after its capture by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in August.
Fighting has been raging since October 20 along a 16-kilometer stretch of road between Bhamo and the Momauk battalion base, as a junta column of four armored vehicles pushes toward the town backed by air and artillery support.
“Junta forces are launching airstrikes followed by artillery strikes as troops in armored vehicles advance. They are conducting three or four airstrikes per day and attacked us with drones yesterday,” KIA information spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
Junta reinforcements from the 21st Military Operations Command in Bhamo are reportedly being intercepted by the KIA and its allies near Aung Myay village on the Bhamo-Momauk road.
The KIA and allies defeated Light Infantry Battalion 437, crucial for the defense of Bhamo town, after one month of fighting on August 19. Around 500 junta troops were deployed at the base.
Junta troops who fled the defeat have been joined by reinforcements from Bhamo in the push to retake the battalion.
Bhamo, a district-level town, houses the 21st Military Operations Command, the 88th Light Infantry Division, light infantry battalions, infantry battalions and combat support units.
The KIA and allies effectively cut off the town by seizing Momauk to the east, though Mansi to the south remains in junta hands.
In September, the regime deployed a fleet of warships to ferry reinforcements, food and ammunition north along the Irrawaddy River from Mandalay to Bhamo. After the fleet was intercepted by the KIA and allies in Tigyaing and Shwegu townships, only one warship reached Bhamo, according to the KIA.
