Two KIA soldiers take position in the frontline near Laiza headquarters, eastern Kachin State.
Four 120mm mortars of the Burmese Army are being moved closer to key frontline positions of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Manmaw (Bhamo) district in Kachin State, northern Burma, eyewitnesses said.
On a part of the Manmaw-Loije Road, connecting the Chinese border, where battles have been on between the two sides for over a month now, the Burmese Army troops are now moving four 120mm mortars from Hka Wan Bang village to near the KIA’s positions, added eyewitnesses.
Yesterday, fighting raged for an hour at noon in Du Ra Kawng between the two sides from the Burmese Army-controlled Hka Wan Bang and KIA-controlled Law Dan. Burmese troops fired 120mm mortars rounds from positions closer to the KIA, said a Baptist pastor of Law Dan, who did not want to be named.
The pastor told Kachin News Group on Tuesday, “We have about 30 households in the village. Now, we are holding meetings for evacuation, especially of women and children from the war zone because Burmese troops have moved closer with four 120mm mortars towards KIA positions”.
The latest Burmese Army reinforcements of five personnel-carrying trucks from N’Mawk (Momauk) arrived in the war zone on Tuesday morning, said eyewitnesses.
Since October, KIA troops and People’s Army soldiers have resisted successive offensives by government troops.
The Burmese government broke the 17-year ceasefire and launched a military offensive against the KIA on June 9 this year. The KIA and its People’s Army fighters have resisted the severe military onslaught by the Burmese Army using defensive tactics. KNG news 8.november 2011
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