An interview with a member of a defense force about the situation of the battle for Pinlebu town, which is experiencing intense airstrikes.
The joint forces of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the People’s Defense Force (PDF) have been conducting an offensive for one month and seven days to capture the town of Pinlebu, which lies on the border between the Sagaing Region and Kachin State. The town is currently facing heavy airstrikes by the military.
Since the 2021 military coup, the joint KIA-PDF forces has made six attempts to capture Pinlebu town, located 25 miles northwest of Kawlin town and 41 miles from Wuntho town, according to local residents.
The current offensive on Pinlebu, which began on 14 August 2024, is the second attempt this year. Despite the ongoing assault, the military council is defending the town with air support and has so far prevented the complete capture of Pinlebu.
Kachin News Group (KNG) conducted this interview with a Pinlebu People’s Defense Force official involved in the fighting to learn more about the current situation of the offensive on the town, which has been ongoing for over a month.
Q: First, please give us an update on the battle for Pinlebu town.
A: Today they have deployed troops in an area called Taw Kyaung, which is near the police station – about 146 meters away– . To do this, they fired about 12 times from a Y-12 plane until about 2:00 pm. They have also deployed Mi-17 helicopters seven times to redeploy troops. That’s the latest status.
Q: How many troops do you estimate were sent in today? Do you know which battalion or military command they belong to?
A: The troop strength could be over 100. That is an approximate figure. According to the information we have, today’s deployment is from the Magway garrison.
Q: Since the military council is currently reinforcing its troops in Pinlebu, what is the current situation of armed clashes between the two sides?
A: There is fierce fighting between our force and the newly deployed troops I just mentioned. We also managed to seize a lot of weapons and supplies that had been dropped for them. We don’t yet know exactly what we’ve captured.
Q: We heard that the defense forces also managed to seize some weapons and supplies that the military council had airdropped the last time. Is that correct?
A: Yes, that is correct. On 21 August, we captured supplies that were dropped, mainly weapons, ammunition and food. They dropped them with parachutes, both in sacks and in wooden crates. At that time we also captured many of the troops who came to get the supplies.
Q: Next, can you tell us about the situation of the prisoners of war who were captured during the month-long battle?
A: Including today’s deployment, there have been three troop reinforcements. The first column of troops that was deployed surrendered and completely defected. We captured some of the second one alive. The troops that are now stationed here were sent from the lower regions and aren’t familiar with this area.
So, some of them fled to our side by mistake. We have also captured some who tried to escape because they no longer wanted to fight. In total, including the prisoners of war and those who surrendered, we captured over 80.
Q: Which areas or camps in Pinlebu town are still under your control?
A: In the town, only the police station and Asia Bank Hill are still under their control. Everything else we have taken. They’re using intensive airstrikes not to lose these places. Someone who doesn’t know the area well might think it’s an international airport. Because they come to attack every day. There is hardly a day without attacks. It’s a situation of daily battles and constant military tension.
Q: Are you saying that the military junta relies mainly on airstrikes in the battle for Pinlebu?
A: They attack every day. Every time they come, they drop about 20 bombs, including 300-pound, 500-pound and 1000-pound bombs. We can also guess they’re using cluster bombs. How can we tell they’re cluster bombs? They’re different from other bombs. The explosion pattern is clearly different, so we can assume that they’re also using cluster bombs.
Q: How many troops do you estimate are still in the remaining camps? Which junta forces make up most of the troops there?
A: We estimate that there are about 100 people in the police station. Among them are about 30 policewomen. The rest is a mix of injured and uninjured personnel. There are also about 100 on Asia Bank Hill, where they’re building new bunkers. Besides the junta troops, there are members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia, the militia led by U Wah Thawa and the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA). It’s difficult to estimate the exact number of troops.
Q: What percentage of Pinlebu town would you say the defense forces now control?
A: We can say that we control about 70 percent of the town. The remaining camps are being intensively reinforced by the military and attacked from the air. This makes it difficult for us to take them quickly.
Broadcast by KNG.