Burmese Army forces have seized the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) Battalion 27 HQ in southeast Kachin State. As of Monday, government forces were still in control of the area, according to frontline KIA officers.
This was the first 3rd Brigade battalion headquarters to fall to government troops since the war broke out six months ago..
Battalion officers informed Kachin News Group that the headquarters had been deserted in the face of a strong military offensive.
The KIA battalion headquarters was situated in Balawng Dingsa, approximately five miles north of Manwin town in Manmaw (Bhamo) District.
Since early November, President Thein Sein’s government has deployed several hundred troops from two army divisions, the Meiktila-based Light Infantry Division (LID) No. 99 and the Bago-based LID No. 77. In addition, hundreds more soldiers from the Kyaukme-based Military Operation Command-1, operating under the Lashio-based Northeast Regional Command, were shifted to Manwin and Nam Hkam towns, close to where KIA Battalions 1 and 27 operate.
The Burmese Army in the midst of a strong offensive against KIA positions in those areas. The ostensible purpose for the government is to wrest back control of the Muse-Nam Hkam-Manmaw Road, connecting Kachin State with Shan State.
