September 8th, 2022
The military council has reportedly bombed the positions the 9th Battalion of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kuttai Township, northern Shan State, with two fighter jets.
On September 7th, the junta strafed the armed ethnic group’s frontline positions with a fighter jet from about 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and continued the attack with a helicopter at about 3 p.m., a local resident told Kachin News Group (KNG).
“The fighting resumed early this morning. It’s been going on since yesterday. Cellular communication was down since this morning, but now it’s just back. Yesterday they came and shot with a fighter jet and today they also bombed the positions several times. At this moment another helicopter is shooting again. The junta troops are also firing in with heavy artillery from Nam Phet Kar village,” said a resident of Nam Phet Kar village.
Military council forces were reinforced with two truckloads of troops the night before and more than 400 soldiers from the 77th Division are moving around Nam Phet Kar village.
Locals said the junta is conducting an offensive to capture the KIA’s 9th Battalion outpost in Kawng Sak Bum using excessive force, including artillery fire.
Kawng Sak Bum is located east of Humung village on the road from Nam Phet Kar to Muse, where fierce fighting between the two sides has been raging since yesterday.
Sent by KNG.