Residents of Hpakant Township in Kachin State told DVB that villagers fled their homes as around 200 regime troops clashed with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Maw Wan Lay village, a jade-mining area north of Hpakant and 94 miles (151 km) west of the state capital Myitkyina, on Monday.
“Besides Maw Wan Lay, there was fighting between the KIA and regime forces at the Mawsisar [village] pagoda hill on the same day,” a resident with knowledge of the fighting told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Mawsisar village is located six miles (9 km) northeast of Hpakant town.
The anonymous source added that the residents of Maw Wan Gyi, located three miles (4.8 km) north of Hpakant, have also evacuated the village. Residents told DVB that regime forces have killed at least 33 civilians since they engaged with the KIA in Hpakant’s Lonekhin village-tract on May 28.
Residents accused regime forces of killing three employees and injuring several others in an artillery strike on a mining site in Lonekhin’s Mawsisar village on June 3, as well as setting fire to mining machinery.
A KIA source told DVB that the resistance killed at least 20 regime troops during fighting in Lonekhin on June 9-10, but did not share any number of resistance casualties.
The regime troops reportedly belong to Infantry Brigade 3, based in Mogaung Township — located 61 miles (98 km) southeast of Hpakant and 41 miles (66 km) west of Myitkyina.
Aid workers in Kachin State told DVB that at least 1,400 residents of seven villages in Hpakant had fled the regime counteroffensive and are sheltering at facilities run by the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC).
At least three regime attempts at launching a counteroffensive have been reported in KIA-controlled areas of Waingmaw Township since June 1. Waingmaw is located 30 miles (48 km) east of Myitkyina.
Pro-regime forces, including the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), reportedly launched a counteroffensive in KIA-controlled Sanwingone and Helpu villages near Indawgyi Lake in May. Indawgyi Lake is located 112 miles (180 km) west of Myitkyina.
“It’s relatively calm now. But regime troops haven’t withdrawn [from Helpu village], so fighting can resume any day,” a resident currently taking refuge in a nearby village told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
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.
