Kachin people in the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)-controlled area are worried about the threat of airstrikes, as intense fighting between the military council and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) along with allied forces continues in Moemauk Township, Bhamo District, Kachin State, said local residents.
The fighting between the KIA and allied forces and Moemauk-based Light Infantry Battalion 437 has been going on for about 20 days, and on the other side, the military council army is primarily conducting airstrikes.
At around midnight on 7 August, the military council simultaneously bombed Mung Lai Hkyet, Mong Sat Par, Myo Thit and Konlaw near the KIO-controlled Laiza.
A local man from Mung Lai Hkyet said that due to this situation, people living closest to Laiza are concerned about the threat of airstrikes from the military council.
He said, “We are worried about airstrikes because the army is mainly using aircraft for attacks. While we are no longer afraid of the artillery shelling we faced in the past, our only fear now is airstrikes. The KIO has yet to provide guidance on how to escape, and we are especially afraid of what might happen during the night.”
Locals said that the military council forces are not only bombing the areas where the fighting is going on, but also the villages where there is no fighting.
Fighting in the area subsided after the KIA and allied forces captured the military council’s strategic camps near Laiza, where the KIO is headquartered, in March.
After the KIA captured almost all of the junta’s strategic military camps near Laiza, heavy shelling and indiscriminate shootings in those areas have ceased, said some local residents.
However, as the ongoing battles in Bhamo and Moemauk continue to intensify, people near Laiza remain worried and live in fear. It is not east for us to dig trenches during the rainy season, and some individuals are taking precautionary measures, according to a local man from Mung Lai Hkyet.
Colonel Nawbu, spokesperson for the KIO, said, “After losing the strategic camps, the military council army has been forced to rely primarily on airstrikes. They are conducting targeted attacks on villages, hospitals, and churches.”
The military council is regularly using 3 to 4 jet fighters to attack conflict-affected Moemauk. On days with intense fighting, attacks can occur up to 10 times, said a KIA frontline source.
Sent by KNG