About 40 Burma Army soldiers were killed in one day, Tuesday, by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) as the momentum increases in the civil war in Burma’s northern Kachin State, people in the war zone said.
People in the battle field said government soldiers died during fighting against the People’s Army under the KIA around Ja Ing Yang Village, near Sinbo, in central Kachin State.
There were no KIA casualties, a KIA officer in the frontline said.
Fighting is happening daily between the two sides in different areas in the Shadan Pa Valley, close to Ja Ing Yang, according to local people.
Hundreds of government troops have arrived in those areas for a new offensive against the KIA headquarters at Laiza since the last week of September, KIA officials in Laiza said.
The KIA strongholds at Laiza, Alen Bum, Laisin Bum, Hpalap Bum and Mai Ja Yang, in eastern Kachin State along the China border, situated about 25 miles west of the location of the current battles.
Militarily, Shadan Pa and Ja Ing Yang are strategic positions for the Burma Army for launching its offensives against the KIA strongholds, KIA officials said.
The fighting continues in the two areas, people in the war zone said.
