Responding to escalating tensions with the regime, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has begun blocking all vehicles leaving its defacto headquarters in Laiza town in the direction of Bhamo and Myitkyina.
According to local reports, the KIA ambushed the Infantry Battalion 13 from Awng Ja sent to arrest gold miners in Nam Sam Yang at around 3pm on 16 June. “The KIA troop didn’t allow the Burma army column to enter its territory, and when they crossed the line, they fired at them,” after which the regime fighters retreated, an anonymous man told KNG.
Another source, also requesting anonymity, said the road from Myitkyina to Bhamo was still open, but the road to Laiza was closed.
A third anonymous source close to the Kachin armed group said the KIA and Burma army had agreed not to take up positions in Nam Sam Yang after residents displaced by the war in 2011 returned in 2021. However, since the military coup, the junta has been trying to capture the village and the surrounding area. Fighting broke out in 2022 when the regime sent troops to Nam Sam Yan in August, leading to a two-week standoff between the two armies.
More recently, KIA troops captured the sit-tat’s weapons after ambushing them near the village on 16 June.
