Junta forces arrested civilians, including women and children, and used them as human shields during a patrol in Momauk while fighting with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in a nearby village in Kachin State.

On Sunday, the Burma Army (BA) Light Infantry Battalion 437 fired heavy weapons during three hours of afternoon clashes with the KIA near the army's camp in Kyan Khin.

At the same time, a BA column of 100 soldiers fired their guns into the air on the main road of Momauk. ''Some people ran away when the soldiers arrived at the market, where they must have detained over 30 civilians," a male source told NMG.

NMG was unable to reach the spokesperson for the KIA's political arm, the Kachin Independence Organisation, for comment on the weekend violence.

Fighting between BA and KIA has intensified since the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's government during a coup on 1 February, preventing lawmakers who won the 2020 race from being sworn into office.