The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that it will not be hosting the regime’s 2025-26 elections – with voting dates on Dec. 28, Jan. 11 and Jan. 25, 2026 – in territory under its control, nor will it recognize the results.
Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB that it cannot guarantee the safety of those involved in the electoral process led by the Union Election Commission (UEC), which has been constructing poll stations with security provided by regime forces. He urged residents of Kachin State not to vote in the regime polls.
He added that four residents of Bhamo Township in southern Kachin were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Dec. 22. KIA-led resistance forces have been carrying out daily attacks on Infantry Battalion 47 and its surrounding three-mile (5 km) area in Bhamo, according to Naw Bu.
The fight over control of Bhamo between the KIA and regime forces reached its first anniversary on Dec. 4. Bhamo is located 118 miles (190 km) south of the state capital Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of the KIA headquarters of Laiza.
Naw Bu said regime forces have been carrying out daily artillery, drone and airstrikes and ground assaults against KIA positions in Waingmaw, Khaunglanphu and Hpakant townships. The three towns are located 30-94 miles (48-151 km) east, north and west of Myitkyina.
The UEC announced on Dec. 5 that first and second phases of the elections 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.”
The wards and village-tracts included in the first phase of elections on Dec. 28 are located in Tanai, Khaunglanphu, Mohnyin, and Myitkyina townships, while those in the second phase on Jan. 11, 2026 are located in Machanbaw, Mogaung, and Waingmaw townships. Kachin State has a total of 18 townships.
The KIA-affiliated Laiza TV reported that regime forces have carried out at least 100 artillery, drone and airstrikes in Kachin State in the first two weeks of December. DVB has documented 96 civilian fatalities in 165 aerial attacks carried out by the Air Force in Kachin State since March 28.
