The junta’s effective resupply of food and ammunition by air to its soldiers defending Bhamo Town are hindering the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) offensive to take the City.

A coalition of the KIA and people’s defence forces (PDFs) launched a large scale offensive to take Bhamo, the second largest town in Kachin State, on 4 December 2024. The fighting to take the town is still ongoing.

There is still almost daily fighting in Bhamo Town with intense fighting around the junta's Military Operations Command 21 (MOC 21) in the town whilst the junta counters the attacks with airstrikes and drone attacks, according to Colonel Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the KIA.

He said to MNJ: “Bhamo is a large town with an MOC headquarters and a significant junta troop presence. There are also several enemy battalions stationed there. Our objective is to capture the entire town, which makes the operation even more challenging. Additionally, the junta has the advantage of effectively airlifting supplies and ammunition to Bhamo without disruption, posing another obstacle for us.”

The only way the junta soldiers in Bhamo Town can be resupplied is by airlifts as all overland routes to the town are controlled by the KIA and its allies.

The KIA-led coalition captured the junta’s Artillery Battalion (AB) 366 in Bhamo Town on 2 February 2025.

Also on 2 February, the KIA-led coalition launched an offensive against the MOC 21 headquarters in Bhamo Town. Since then there has been fighting nearly every day in the area of the MOC21 headquarters and the resistance coalition has taken several prisoners of war there.

On 3 February the coalition captured a junta camp in the grounds of Kantaw School in Bhamo Town.

On 20 February the coalition captured the Infantry Battalion (IB) 236 headquarters in the town.

By mid March the KIA-led coalition controlled large parts of Bhamo Town, but not the MOC 21 headquarters.