The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB on Friday that the Myanmar Air Force has carried out retaliatory airstrikes against resistance forces in Bhamo Township of southern Kachin State with at least 30 bombs landing near the Military Operations Command (MOC) 21, where fighting between regime and KIA-led forces has been ongoing.
“[Regime troops] stay in the MOC while jets and drones provide air support,” Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB. “[Bhamo] is huge. Our battlefield is also vast—about 20 miles [32 km] in diameter,” he added. Bhamo is located 120 miles (193 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and 58 miles (93 km) southwest of Laiza, the KIA headquarters.
Regime forces are stationed inside the MOC 21 compound, where they are able to hide behind reinforced concrete walls, and snipers are able to fire indiscriminately at KIA personnel, Naw Bu explained.
The KIA-led resistance forces launched an offensive in Bhamo District on Dec. 4. It captured the regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 236 on Feb. 20, Tank Battalion 5014 on Feb. 7, Artillery Battalion 366 on Feb. 2, the Bhamo Airport on Jan. 26, and the Armored Battalion 7006 on Jan. 25.
A KIA source told DVB on the condition of anonymity on Jan. 8 that all three regime battalion headquarters were captured in neighbouring Mansi Township.
“There was a significant capture of prisoners of war, alongside substantial quantities of weapons and ammunition,” the KIA source added in January as its forces then focussed its efforts on capturing Bhamo, the second largest city in Kachin.
The KIA has seized 14 townships in Kachin, including Mabein in northern Shan State, since it launched its state-wide offensive against regime forces on March 7. The battle for Bhamo has been one of its most protracted fights with regime forces in the year-long conflict.
Naw Bu stated that the reason for the delay in capturing Bhamo was due to the failure of the KIA in cutting off logistics supply routes, which gives the regime access to its recently-acquired unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drone arsenal.
Pro-regime social media accounts shared footage of a drone-mounted forward-looking infrared (FLIR) system on Feb. 7, according to a report from Jane’s Defence Weekly.
An FLIR system detects infrared radiation, or heat, emitted by objects and creates thermal images based on temperature differences, enabling visibility in complete darkness, through smoke, fog, or in other low-visibility conditions.
The footage supposedly showed a night-time battle in and around the Bhamo Prison on Feb. 6. Its thermal imaging revealed groups of KIA personnel running between and into buildings and then being targeted by munitions – so-called ‘drop bombs’ – released from the same rotary UAV.
Naw Bu declined to comment on how the KIA plans to counter regime drone strikes, citing concerns about sharing military strategy.
