The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has successfully captured a military camp belonging to the People’s Militia Force, operating under the military junta, in Hsawlaw Township located in northern Kachin State.
According to a KIA officer involved in the operation, they seized six PMF prisoners of war and confiscated weapons from the camp situated in Myaw Maw village, approximately 5 miles from Hsawlaw town, during the morning hours of April 11. The PMF maintains three other camps in the vicinity, but the one that was captured is the closest to the town.
The regime had deployed 30 soldiers there last week, but they withdrew a couple of days before the attack commenced. The KIA was concerned about the arrival of these soldiers, prompting their decision to seize the camp, the officer explained. There were not any current confrontations between the KIA and PMF preceding the attack in Chipwi and Hsawlaw townships.
Lt-Col Aung Kyaw Kyaw, battalion commander of the junta’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 298, was recently apprehended by the KIA in Hsawlaw town. Previously, soldiers from IB 298 were stationed at a base in the village of Don Ban in Tanai Township before relocating to the town.
