The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) confirmed to DVB that its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), shot down one of three regime logistics helicopters en route to the Military Operations Command (MOC 21) headquarters in Bhamo Township of southern Kachin State on Tuesday.
“Our fighters fired at the three helicopters and hit two. One crashed and exploded in the forest, while the other was forced to make an emergency landing in Shwegu town,” Naw Bu, the KIO spokesperson, told DVB. He did not disclose the total number of casualties.
The regime information team announced that its helicopter crashed due to a technical malfunction. The KIA reported they shot down a transport helicopter in Kachin’s Waingmaw Township on Jan. 3, 2024 and a fighter jet over northern Shan State on Jan. 16, 2024.
Bhamo is located 64-120 miles (103-193 km) east and south of Shwegu town, the KIA headquarters in Laiza, and the Kachin State capital Myitkyina.
Military analysts told DVB that the regime has had to rely on air transport to reinforce its MOC 21 in Bhamo from its Northern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters in Myitkyina after the KIA and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) seized Indaw Township in Sagaing Region, which borders Kachin, on April 7. Bhamo is located 171 miles (275 km) east of Indaw.
Sources told DVB that the regime dispatched two military columns, totaling around 1,000 troops, based in Kachin’s Kamaing and Indawgyi towns to Hpakant town and surrounding villages, which are under KIA control, on April 23. The KIA gained control of Hpakant and its surrounding villages of Namya, Hsenghpayar and Kathmaw in April 2024, local media reported.
A KIA source told DVB that the regime column on the Kamaing road reached Tadanyinaung village, located 18 miles (29 km) east of Hpakant town, on May 13. “There are around 600 troops. Most of them are from the MOC 3 in Mogaung Township,” he added.
A PDF member told DVB that a 400-strong military column clashed with KIA-led resistance forces in Inntha and Sanwinkone villages, located in Indawgyi town, 45 miles (72 km) south of Hpakant, on May 14.
The Kachin News Agency reported that a 200-strong regime column departed from Sezin village, located 43 miles (69 km) south of Hpakant, and launched a counteroffensive along the Tarmahkan road in early May.
The KIA launched its offensive in southern Kachin on Dec. 4 and seized Mansi Township on Jan. 8. It captured Kanpaikti, a town on the Myanmar-China border in Waingmaw Township, on Nov. 20, along with the rare-earth mining hub of Pangwa in Chipwi Township on Oct. 19.
The KIA has seized 14 towns in Kachin, as well as Mabein in northern Shan State, since it launched its state-wide offensive against regime forces in March 2024. The regime controls Myitkyina, Mogaung, Mohnyin, Putao, and Waingmaw towns.
