Heavy clashes broke out between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army's (KIA) Battalion 12 in Nam Hpu in Mansi Township in southern Kachin State on March 27th, the Kachin news group has learned.
Reached for comment Lt-Col Naw Bu from the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) Laiza headquarters confirmed that the clashes had taken place. He said the clashes were not the result of an offensive by either side instead the fighting was a result of the KIA forces and their foes from the Tatmdaw “encountering” each other. According to local residents, the battle took place between the KIA and a joint team of the Burma Army’s Bhamo based Infantry Battalion 237 and Mongmit based Infantry Battalion 276. Casualties figures from both sides are still unknown at this point.
While the KIA and the Burma Army have been fighting nearly every day in KIA Brigade 4 and 6 in northern Shan State in recent months, clashes in Kachin State have not been very common as of late.
Hostilities between the KIA and the Burmese army resumed in June 2011 following the collapse of a 17 year ceasefire. The conflict has displaced more than 100,000 people.
Translated by Thida Linn with editing by BNI staff.
