The junta launched intense airstrikes on five Kachin Independence Army (KIA)-controlled areas in Kachin State within a single day.

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu said the airstrikes targeted areas under the control of different KIA brigades on February 21.

“There were airstrikes in both the morning and the afternoon. Around 11:00 a.m., areas under Brigade 9 were attacked. In the afternoon, airstrikes targeted Brigade 8 areas, and Brigade 11 areas were also hit. In addition, the Battalion 1 base in Inbarpar Village, within Brigade 3 territory, was attacked. In total, about five locations were struck,” he told KNG.

The airstrikes came a day after a drone strike damaged a passenger plane at the airport in junta-controlled Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. The junta blamed the February 20 drone attack on the KIA and its allied People’s Defence Force (PDF) and threatened retaliation.

Colonel Naw Bu said it was confirmed that KIA brigades and battalions were hit by the junta’s airstrikes, but details of the damage and casualties were not yet known.

“We believe the junta prepared these attacks in advance. No one knows for certain which group carried out the drone attack in Myitkyina. The junta claimed the plane was damaged by suicide drones, and it is now using that incident as an excuse to attack us,” he said. He also categorically denied allegations that the KIA carried out the drone attack on Myitkyina Airport.

Colonel Naw Bu emphasized that attacking civilian targets is not KIA policy, and the group has established rules to avoid actions that would harm the public.

He criticized the junta for repeatedly attacking civilian areas and suggested the drone attack could be a ploy fabricated by the coup regime to undermine public confidence in the KIA.

The junta reported that the plane’s tail and fuselage were severely damaged in the drone attack and announced that all flights to Myitkyina would be suspended for three months.

Myitkyina Airport was also targeted in an earlier attack on February 12.