Burma-Myanmar: Burma army and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) battle in five different places in Shan state
Fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burma’s armed forces broke out today in at least five different places in northern Shan state after two Burmese army columns were sent to the area as reinforcements, local residents told the Kachin News Group (KNG).
Both sides suffered casualties from skirmishes near two towns - Pangsai (also Kyukok) and Mongkoe (also Munggu), situated along the Muse to Kutkai road route.
KIA sources estimate that more than a dozen Burmese soldiers were killed during the fighting. The KIA also lost a solider and another solider was injured according to a KIA officer on the front-lines. The fighting consisted of forces from the KIA’s battalion 36 who were supported by a Kachin civilian force called the People’s Army and government forces from Infantry Battalion No. 45, IB No. 123 and IB No. 125, said a KIA officer who requested anonymity.