Hostilities between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have escalated near N’hkai Bum after regime soldiers from two columns have been patrolling around the foot of the mountain where the Kachin soldiers are based in Myitkyina Township, Kachin State.
Last week, soldiers from Nam Jim and Palana were deployed to the area in a pre-emptive action against KIA’s Battalion 11 of Brigade 2.
“We are terrified of the military and concerned about what will happen in the future,” a local from Ngwe Pyaw San Pya told KNG on condition of anonymity. On 10 December, Ngwe Pyaw San Pya was raided by 100 soldiers and 100 villagers were abducted for five hours and then released.
The Kachin soldiers were based in Kasong village near Namti town until 2018, when the military ambushed it and forced them to move to other areas.
Since the coup, KIA Battalion 11 and the People’s Defense Force have frequently attacked the Palana police station and military checkpoint along the Myitkyina – Sumprabum road. The regime has beefed up its presence in the area where its Infantry Battalion (IB) 29 has been since November.
“We are like a chicken in a cage because our village is between the Burma Army’s IB 29 and KIA’s Battalion 11,” says another villager from Ngwe Pyaw San Pya. Both armies “can easily come to our village and we don’t feel safe anymore yet we don’t know where to flee to or where to hide.”
In addition to ground troops, the regime has sent reconnaissance planes over N’khine Bum causing some Ngwe Pyaw San Pya villagers to flee to Myitkyina town.
