Sources close to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that fighting over control of Bhamo Township was still ongoing as it reached its first anniversary on Dec. 4. Bhamo is located 118 miles (190 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of the KIA headquarters of Laiza.
A KIA source told DVB on the condition of anonymity that regime forces resumed its counteroffensive in Bhamo on Nov. 30 and have deployed armored vehicles and artillery against KIA-led resistance forces, which includes its allied People’s Defense Force (PDF).
The source added that clashes happen daily around the Bhamo University, on the nine mile (14 km) long Bhamo-Momauk road, and near the regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 47 base. He told DVB that the KIA and the military have been locked in a “back-and-forth” struggle over control of urban areas.
No casualties have been reported over the last year of fighting by either side. The Kachin News Group (KNG), a media outlet covering Kachin State and the KIA’s offensive, reported on Dec. 10 that the fighting has destroyed 90 percent of Bhamo.
Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB on Aug. 10 that regime forces regained control of its Artillery Battalion 366 and half of the Bhamo Airport. He claimed that regime reinforcements, including troops, artillery, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), arrived in Bhamo by the Myanmar Navy on Aug. 1.
The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on Dec. 5 that first and second phases of its general elections 2025-26 will not be held in 15 wards and 91 village-tracts of Kachin State due to “a lack of conditions to ensure free-and-fair elections.”
They are located in Tanai, Khaunglanphu, Mohnyin, and Myitkyina townships which are included in the first phase of elections on Dec. 28, and in Machanbaw, Mogaung, and Waingmaw townships which are included in the second phase on Jan. 11, 2026. Kachin State has a total of 18 townships.
Kachin State’s Sumprabum, Injangyang, Chipwi and Tsawlaw townships were seized by the KIA in its statewide offensive launched on March 7, 2024.
Bhamo and Hpakant, which is located 94 miles (151 km) west of Myitkyina, as well as Waingmaw, located 30 miles (48 km) east of Myitkyina, are contested between KIA and regime forces.
The elections will be held in 274 of Myanmar’s total 330 townships, according to the UEC. The first phase will be held in 102 townships on Dec. 28, the second in 100 townships on Jan. 11, 2026, and the third in 72 townships on an unspecified date mid-to-late January 2026.
