Myanmar’s Kachin rebels take key town on approach to Bhamo

Ethnic minority Kachin fighters in northern Myanmar captured military camps on the approaches to the major town of Bhamo on Wednesday, another setback for the junta that have been struggling for much of the past year to hold territory in the face of concerted attacks.

Junta forces now control less than half the country after suffering major battlefield setbacks in 2024, including the loss of command headquarters in Shan and Rakhine states, rebel groups have said.

The military, which has ruled the ethnically diverse country with an iron fist for most of its history since independence from Britain in 1948, has called for talks but there are few signs of realistic steps towards peace.

The Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, fighting for self-determination in Myanmar’s northernmost state, captured the military’s last bases in Mansi town, in southern Kachin state, about 17 kilometers (10 miles) from the town of Bhamo, on the main road south.

“It can be confirmed, the three camps were captured this morning at around 11 a.m.,” said KIA information Naw Bu told Radio Free Asia, referring to bases for the junta’s infantry battalions 601, 319 and artillery battalion 523.

RFA tried to contact the military council’s Kachin state spokesman, Moe Min Thein, by telephone to ask about the situation but he did not respond.

Naw Bu did not give any information about casualties but said the junta forces in Mansi had been supporting their colleagues in Bhamo, an Irrawaddy River town and transport hub with a population of some 80,000 people before the latest fighting erupted.

So the fall of Mansi was a significant loss for the military, Naw Bu said.

“Mansi is important. These camps were providing security for Bhamo,” he said.

The KIA launched an offensive to capture both Mansi and Bhamo on Dec. 4.

A Mansi resident taking refuge outside the town told RFA that the military had responded to the loss of Mansi with sustained airstrikes.

“The sound of explosions can be clearly heard from where I am,” said the resident, who declined to be identified for safety reasons.

Mansi’s residents fled months ago to surrounding villages and farms, many living in tents, adding to Myanmar’s growing population of displaced that the United Nations estimates at more than 3.5 million people.

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Bhamo burns

Naw Bu said the battle for Bhamo was fierce and the KIA had captured its police and civil administration headquarters, where junta forces were stationed. The military was defending its remaining positions with airstrikes and heavy weapons, he said.

Most of Bhamo’s residents have fled but about 20,000 remain, according to estimates by aid workers, who say there have been civilian deaths in the fighting.

Residents said at least eight of the town’s neighborhoods had sustained major destruction in fires sparked by artillery and airstrikes, including Min Kone, Nyaung Pin Yat, Kokko Taw and Shwe Kyee Nar, and about 50 residents had been killed over the past month.

One resident said many of those displaced from Bhamo were sheltering in forests and villages with few supplies to sustain them.

“Food and medicine are in need and the pregnant women need medicine and are facing hardship giving birth,” the resident, who also declined to be identified, told RFA.

The KIA, one of Myanmar’s most powerful guerrilla armies, has made significant gains in fighting over the past year, capturing rare earth and jade mines that export to China, as well all main crossings on the border with China in its area of operations.

China, the junta’s main foreign ally, has been trying to end the violence in its neighbor where it has extensive economic interests including energy pipelines from the Indian Ocean, and it has been pressing insurgents to strike ceasefires with the junta.

Edited by RFA Staff.