A Kachin Independence Army (KIA) captain and another soldier from battalion 12, under brigade 3, were shot and killed by government troops. The Nov. 23 incident near the Nam Lim Pa refugee camp in southern Kachin state happened while KIA forces in the area were under strict orders not to strike at government forces.
During a phone interview with Kachin News Group, Maj. Labang Jawn Awng, commanding officer of battalion 12, confirmed that Capt. Hpaude Hkang Maw and Palai Naw Lai were killed. Another third soldier sustained a head injury during the melee.
“Government forces ambushed us on a road. We mistakenly entered an area that was surrounded by them.”
The morning incident triggered heavy fighting that lasted most of the day. The KIA unit literally had to fight its way out of the area, Jawn Awng said. At the time of press there were no reports of casualties or injuries on the government side.
Burma army reinforcements arrived in the nearby U Lang Pa the same day, apparently dispatched from a base in Kai Htik, according to reports from front line KIA officers.
After Nam Lim Pa refugee camp was captured by the Burma army forces, battalion 12 was ordered by the Laiza headquarters on Nov. 19 not to attack government troops, Jawn Awng said. The refugee camp, which was taken by Bhamo (or Manmaw) based Military Operation Command-21 (MOC-21), occurred shortly after a Catholic Church aid convoy arrived. Government troops deliberately took advantage that the KIA wouldn't shoot them when a humanitarian convoy was in the area, Jawn Awng said.
Despite the government efforts to woo the KIA’s political arm, the Kachin Independence Organization, into signing a ceasefire and a participant of the nationwide ceasefire scheme, ten KIA soldiers have been killed and ten more injured in southern Kachin state over the past two months, Jawn Awng estimated.
