The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has launched an operation to capture Bhamo, Kachin State’s second-largest city, out of practical necessity, despite its expected long duration and high resource cost, General Gun Maw, Vice President 1 of the Kachin Independence Council (KIC), said.

The operation for Bhamo is a military initiative carried out for political honor, with the KIA deploying all its resources, he said in an online speech addressed to the 65th Kachin Revolution Day event in Texas, US.

“The Battle of Bhamo was a fight for political honor. We knew it would be difficult. It’s been over a year now. We knew it would take time and require huge resources, but we launched the operation because it was necessary. We have already invested a great deal, and it was truly a necessary effort,” he said.

The KIA-led resistance coalition launched an offensive against junta positions in Bhamo on December 4, 2024. The Battle of Bhamo has now been raging for over a year, with neither side gaining a decisive advantage.

In the early stages of the fighting, the KIA controlled roughly two-thirds of Bhamo. But after last year’s rainy season ended, the junta regrouped and began pressuring the KIA with heavy counteroffensives.

In the third week of July 2025, a junta reinforcement flotilla set out from Mandalay in central Myanmar along the Ayeyarwady River, reaching Bhamo on August 1. Following this, junta troops, previously battered by the KIA, launched attacks on KIA-held military positions. Since then, fighting has occurred daily, with the junta regaining some outposts and encampments. Clashes in Bhamo Township have intensified since December 2025 and continue to this day.

The junta is making excessive use of airstrikes, artillery shelling, and drone attacks to prevent Bhamo City from falling.

Bhamo is a transportation hub where land, river, and air routes converge, making it strategically important. The KIA is striving to capture it, while the junta is defending it fiercely.