The military-backed Burmese government is going to start a full-scale offensive against the minority Kachin army in the country’s north after losing recent battles, sources close to the Burmese Army said.
In Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, tanks and war planes are preparing for the offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has bases around Kachin State and Northern Shan State, said Myitkyina residents.
Fuel, arms and ammunition have been stockpiled at the Northern Regional Military Command, located in the town, after being transported from Mandalay to Myitkyina by ship and train, according to local military observers.
Burmese ground troops are currently operating in eight townships in Kachin State: Mohnyin, Myitkyina, Waimaw (Waingmaw), N’mawk (Momauk), Manje (Mansi), Sumprabum, Hpakant and Danai, said KIA officials at their Laiza headquarters, in eastern Kachin State.
In Northern Shan State, the KIA’s Brigade 4 and its five battalions are based in Muse, Kutkai and Lashio, where troop movements and reinforcements have been significantly increased since early July, witnesses said.
A high level military meeting was held in Naypyidaw, Burma’s capital, on July 18, followed by a regional military meeting at Northern Regional Command, in Myitkyina, the next day, said Burmese military sources.
The discussion in the two meetings centered on the offensive against the KIA and all remaining minority armed groups which rejected transforming into the Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard Force (BGF), added the sources.
The offensive was ordered by the country’s two top military leaders, Senior General Than Shwe and Vice-Senior Maung Aye.
The military claimed at the meetings the government will eliminate the KIA first as an example to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was the same tone taken by political leader, Thein Sein, before the November 2010 Election, said Burmese military sources.
The 17-year old ceasefire ended on June 9 and the military clashes between government and Kachin troops have gradually escalated into full-scale civil war, said local military observers.
The KIA, the second strongest ethnic armed group in military-dominated Burma, is calling for a countrywide ceasefire and genuine political dialogue based on the 1947 Panglong Treaty, which created a multi-ethnic Union of Burma.
