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Burmese government troops have begun a push to seize a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) outpost located just west of the group’s headquarters at Laiza, a day after Laiza itself reportedly came under artillery attack.
The new offensive, which targets a KIA position on a hill called Hpun Pyan Bum, began at noon today, according to Min Htay, a major serving in the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), an ally of the KIA.
Pakistani and Indian troops exchanged gunfire across the disputed Kashmir border early Sunday, leaving one Pakistani soldier dead in a relatively rare fatal confrontation between the two neighbors.
As usual, the rival armies, which have been engaged in a face-off in Kashmir for decades, disagreed about who started the shooting or what happened next.
Pakistan said Indian troops crossed the disputed boundary, known as the Line of Control, into Pakistani-controlled territory, where they attacked a remote outpost and wounded two soldiers, one of whom later died.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) decided Thursday to extend its ceasefire declaration until January 15 after the Philippine government has announced of honoring the suspension of military and police operations up to the same date.
With the extension of the truce, the CPP Central Committee (CC) advised all commands and units of the New People’s Army, the leftist group’s armed wing, and the people’s militias that the end of the ceasefire declared on Dec. 20, 2012 has been “re-extended to 2359H (hour) of January 15.”
Twenty militants were killed and 14 wounded in a security forces’ strike in Khyber Agency early Friday morning.
The offensive took place in Teerah Valley when jet planes bombarded the militants hideout as a result 20 militants were killed and 14 wounded. Security forces also destroyed five hideouts of the militants.
Burmese government forces on Wednesday continued their ground offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) near the village of Nam Sang Yawng in Kachin State while supported by two fighter jets and two helicopter gunships, said Maj. Min Htay, the information officer of the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) Northern Branch.
“Hostilities broke out this morning [Wednesday] when the Burmese army launched an assault from the direction of Nam Sang Yawng,” he said. “The fighting started at about 8 am. Then at 11:30, the aircraft attacked. Later, two helicopter gunships came and fired on us.”