A fierce battle between the Military Council and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) took place in Maden Yang (Mhawpon) village in Hpakant township, Kachin State, and more than 50 regime forces were killed or injured.
Starting on December 5th, a 300-strong junta military unit divided in three columns entered Maden Yang village and occupied religious buildings. At around 4:00 PM on December 6th, KIA and PDF (People’s Defense Forces) jointly launched an attack on those Regime troops, and fierce gunfights erupted.
“We heard that they suffered dearly during the attack of KIA and PFDs, while they were stationed at the religious buildings around the village monastery. It is reported that the joint resistance forces also lost three of their comrades”, a villager said.
After the attack the Hpakant Tactical Operation Command Center launched random artillery barrages on villages including Lawng Hkang (Lone Khin), Madan Yan, San Khar, Sai Yar, Ma Zup Yan, Mhaw Si Sar, Kuday until around 9:00 PM on December 6th.
The Military Council troops, who suffered heavy losses in the battle, retreated from Maden Yang village on the morning of December 7th, locals said.
When the village was first raided by regime soldiers on December 5, 18 civilians gathered in the monastery were accused of working with the PDFs, and interrogated by the Military Council troops.
The next day 11 of them were transferred to the military intelligence department, a villager told KNG.
The villager said “ “The situation is not good. 11 civilians were detained and they only released released some elderly and children aged 7, 13 and 14 respectively. All the young adults and middle-aged were arrested”, he said.
KIA and PDF joint forces tried to rescue the detained Maden Yang villagers but failed, because it was too late, he added.“As they took cover in the monastery the KIA and PDF could not do much.’ After 2:00 PM the place was seized but the prisoners were gone. They had already been taken out before that time”, he explained.
“We heard that they are being interrogated at the Hpakant Tactical Operation Command Center. Maybe they will be sent to the police detention centers after about 10 days. The identity of those arrested are still under investigation. As there are some people who are hiding, it is difficult to confirm the names of the detainees”, a woman from Mamon village said.
Currently, two-thirds of the population of Maden Yang village have fled to Lawng Hkang, Sai Yar villages and Hpakant town.Although the Military Council troops have recently withdrawn due to the bitter defeat, fighting could resume at any time, some locals commented. Regime forces have stepped up inspections in
Hpakant township after mass civilian casualties during the notorious airstrike in the A Nang Pa area of Hpakant township. In addition, more and more arrests of civilians were made along the route of their march.
It is still difficult to confirm the total number of arrests as mobile internet data networks have been cut in Hpakant since August 2021, months after the military coup.
