The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allied forces seized all the junta positions in Chipwi (Chibwe) Town in Chipwi Township, Kachin State and took complete control of the town in a single day, 29 September 2024.
At 5:00am on 29 September the KIA and a coalition of people’s defence forces (PDFs) launched an offensive against junta positions in Chipwi Town and by 8:00 pm they had full control of the town.
The KIA-led coalition seized the Chipwi Myoma Police Station, home to around 30 police personnel, at approximately 2:00 PM on 29 September.
At about 8:00 pm they took control of the Chipwi Garrison Battalion on a hill about a mile outside the town. It was manned by about 50 soldiers, but they suffered extensive casualties in the KIA-led assault and the remaining soldiers changed into civilian clothes and fled the garrison.
A Chipwi resident said to KNG: “The clashes began near the Asia World football pitch around 5:00 a.m. and continued throughout the day in Chipwi Town. Around midnight, junta aircraft bombed the area. I counted about 40 explosions. Since it was the middle of the night, I can’t be certain, but the damage to the town seemed extensive.”
In response to the KIA-coalition’s take over of the town, later on the night of 29 September, at about midnight, the junta launched an airstrike on Chipwi Town. This resulted in casualties, but details of casualty numbers are still currently unknown.
Another resident said: “Since the entire town is now under KIA control, I believe it will attempt to establish an administrative system. However, with the junta conducting airstrikes, the key question is how long the KIA can maintain control over Chipwi [Town]. As of now, it’s clear that the KIA has full control of the town.”
The positions seized from the junta buy the KIA-coalition in and around Chipwi Town included: the Chipwi Garrison Battalion; the Chipwi Myoma Police Station; the 4-Mile junta checkpoint on the Chipwi to Pang War Road; the Nang Oo militia checkpoint at the town’s entrance; the Shangaw militia checkpoint; and a guard outpost near the Asia World football pitch on the road to Kan Paing Yan Ward, on the other side of the Chipwi Creek to Chipwi Town.
The fighting caused many residents of Chipwi to start fleeing the town on 30 September.
Chipwi Town was previously controlled by the junta-aligned New Democratic Army Kachin (NDA-K) Border Guard Force and is in an area where there are many NDA-K controlled rare earth mining operations.
The NDA-K was formed by a former KIA commander, Zahkung Ting Ying (a.k.a. S’Khon Tein Yein), an ethnic Lachik, when he split from the KIA in 1989. He later established Kachin State Special Region No. 1 which the NDA-K controls. It is based in Pang War Town in northeastern Kachin State near the Chinese border and includes Chipwi Town and Chipwi Township.
