In a bid to keep marauding Burmese Army at bay the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) destroyed two key bridges in Northern Shan State by planting explosives on June 14 night, according to KIA officers in Loikang-based KIA’s Brigade 4 in Northern Shan State.
The destroyed bridges were identified as Nam Hpak Ka Bridge on Mandalay-Muse Road, comprising Burma’s largest trade route with the Chinese border Ruili (Shweli), and Nam Hkrai Bridge, located on the Tamonye-Mongsi route, added KIA officers.
As part of a deliberate military strategy the two bridges were destroyed a day after the KIA declared civil war. The declaration came after the Burmese Army attacked the KIA’s Battalion 15 in N’mawk Township, Manmaw (Bhomaw) district in Kachin State on June 9.
