A combined force of Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Kachin Region People’s Defense Force (KPDF) have attacked a Burma army camp on Nan Yee hill near Tamakhan village in Hpakant Township of Kachin state.
Local people said that the KIA and KPDF attack started around 5 p.m. on 26 February. There were two jet fighter air attacks in the Tamakhan area around 6 p.m. Then around 7 p.m. Burma army troops based in Hpakant town targeted KIA positions with artillery fire.
“Fighting broke out at the hilltop camp on Nan Yee hill at 5 p.m. Then a jet fighter attacked the KIA around 6 p.m.,” a local man, who lives in Tamakhan village and spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told KNG.
Following these intense clashes on Nan Yee hill, local people from seven nearby villages fled and have taken shelter in safer areas.
KNG has been unable to verify whether there were any civilian causality during the clashes in the Tamakhan village area.
Tamakhan village is located at the border between Kachin State and Sagaing Region. The majority of people in Tamakhan village work as gold miners.
Hilltop military camps are often flashpoints for battle in Hpakant Township. In January and February 2024, the KIA and KPDF seized the Burma army’s Huay Hkar military camp and Nam Tein military camp. In August 2023, the KIA and KPDF seized the Burma army’s hilltop camp on Kasen hill (also called Kathaing hill) but after a week the KIA and KPDF abandoned the captured military camp and the Burma army redeployed soldiers on Kasen hill.
