The junta is conducting a large-scale offensive along the Lamyan-Motekyeik Road in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, deploying armored vehicles in the operation.

Fierce fighting has persisted along this road for some time, and on August 27 the junta began deploying armored vehicles, according to Colonel Naw Bu, spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

“Clashes are happening almost every day around Lamyan as the junta launches a full-scale offensive. Just yesterday, there was a clash near Law Waw Church. The enemy is also trying to push forward with armored vehicles, and some churches around Motekyeik have already been damaged. The fighting there is happening daily and it’s only getting more intense,” he told MNJ.

Junta troops in Waingmaw Town are firing artillery almost daily at the road leading to Warshawng Village, according to a Waingmaw resident.

“The junta has been shelling nonstop with artillery since yesterday. It looks like they’re doing it because close combat has already broken out around Wuyang Village,” he said.

The KIA began its offensives in Kachin State on March 7 last year, seizing territory along the Waingmaw-Laiza and Waingmaw-Kan Paik Ti roads.

Since then, the junta has repeatedly tried to retake the Waingmaw-Kan Paik Ti Road, sparking frequent clashes.

Because of these clashes, villagers along the road have fled to villages in the Nawngching Village Tract near Bala Min Htin Bridge.