The Myanmar military has mounted a fierce counter-offensive involving four ground columns and continuous airstrikes following the capture of a strategic hill outpost near Zinbon and Sinkhan by a joint Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Kachin People’s Defense Force (KPDF) coalition.

The coalition seized the hilltop position on August 30, neutralizing a temporary junta stronghold established to control the vital Shwegu-Sinkhan roadway.

“It was a hill where troops were temporarily stationed to control the road. It wasn’t a heavily fortified base yet, but reclaiming it was crucial,” a military source said. 

Clashes have raged near Zinbon along the Tawlan and Zinbon mountain ranges ever since the regime initiated its counter-attack the following day.

Situated on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River, Zinbon serves as a critical choke point connecting Shwegu to Bhamo via both land and water routes.

Since late August, the junta has pressed an offensive toward Sinkhan using four columns of roughly 200 troops each—three operating east of the Ayeyarwady and one near Thingaw In on the western side. 

Meanwhile, a flotilla of regime vessels that reached Shwegu on August 28 remains docked and has yet to push upstream.

The KIA-led coalition currently controls Sinkhan and the local river-crossing bridge, prompting the regime's desperate bid to reopen the route to resupply isolated garrisons in Bhamo.