Four 120mm mortars belonging to the Burmese Army are being moved closer to key frontline positions of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Manmaw (Bhamo) District in Kachin State, northern Burma, eyewitnesses said.
Along a section of the Manmaw-Loije Road, connecting to the Chinese border, where battles have been fought between the two sides for over a month now, Burmese Army troops are moving four 120mm mortars from Hka Wan Bang Village closer to the KIA’s positions, added sources.
Yesterday, fighting raged for an hour at noon in Du Ra Kawng between the two sides from the Burmese Army-controlled Hka Wan Bang and KIA-controlled Law Dan. Burmese troops fired 120mm mortars rounds from positions closer to the KIA, said a Baptist pastor of Law Dan who asked not to be named.
The pastor told Kachin News Group on Tuesday, “We have about 30 households in the village. Now, we are holding meetings to discuss evacuation, especially of women and children, from the war zone because Burmese troops have moved closer to KIA positions with their 120mm mortars.”
The latest Burmese Army reinforcements in five personnel-carrying trucks from N’Mawk (Momauk) arrived at the war zone on Tuesday morning, according to eyewitnesses.
Since October, KIA troops and People’s Army soldiers have resisted successive offensives by government troops.
The Burmese government broke the 17-year ceasefire and launched a military offensive against the KIA on June 9 this year. The KIA and its People’s Army fighters have resisted the severe military onslaught by the Burmese Army using defensive tactics.
