Troops loyal to the State Administration Council (SAC) are attempting to regain control of their former camp in Nam Ting village from Kachin forces who recently captured it.
About 80 junta soldiers dispatched from Yam Chek camp in Hpakant town have been attacking the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Kachin Region People’s Defence Force (KPDF) since February 11 to retake the camp.
The Kachin groups have been laying ambushes in a bid to prevent the SAC soldiers from reaching Nam Ting from Hpakant. They ambushed the column near Kyauk Phyar (Lung Hpra) on the morning of February 11, and fighting was still ongoing the next day in the afternoon.
After the regime column left its Yam Chek camp, fellow soldiers based at Nam Yar and on the Hpakant hilltop camp shelled the Nam Ting and Nam Yar area with artillery to open up the road, killing a 54-year-old driver named U Aye Hlaing near Nam Yar on February 11.
The following day, a SAC jet fighter bombed around 6-Mile and Kyauk Phyar villages where the Kachin groups were clashing with SAC troops.
On Sunday, three junta soldiers were captured during the fighting near Kyauk Phyar.
The Kachin groups seized the camp in Nam Ting military on February 2 and Gwi Hkar camp on January 20.
