8/6/2019 Civil War Close Between the Kia and Burmese Army

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The latest military tensions between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese Army

in three different regions in two states in northern Burma may lead to civil war, KIA officials said.

 

The tension is occurring in Kachin State and the area of the KIA’s Brigade 4, in Northern Shan

State, said KIA officials at the Laiza headquarters, in eastern Kachin State.

Today, Wednesday, at about 5 a.m. local time, Burmese Army Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No.320, based in Myothit, in N'Mawk (Momauk) Township, fired 75 mm mortar rounds three times

into the KIA’s Battalion 25, under the KIA’s brigade 5, at Dum Bung Krung, west of the Ta Hkaw

Hka River (Dapein River or Taping River) in the Township in Manmaw (Bhamo) District, KIA

officials said.

KIA officers from Battalion 25 confirmed to the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, the three

Burmese mortar shells landed near the battalion base. However, there were no causalities.

Since the shelling, troops from both sides have been on alert and fresh Burmese troops have

been deployed in the areas near the KIA’s Battalion 1, which is under Brigade 3, in Manje(Mansi) Township, local eyewitnesses said.

Military tension is growing between both sides in Sinbo Town, in southern Kachin State, after

the KIA’s Battalion 5, on the outskirts of Sinbo, was pressured by the Burmese Army to relocate

by May 25, said KIA officials.

Burmese troops are now taking position near Battalion 5 under the guise of road construction.

However, the KIA rejects the explanation for the relocation, added KIA officials.

If the Burmese troops try to approach the battalion base, the war will begin, added the KIA

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8/6/2019 Civil War Close Between the Kia and Burmese Army

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officials.

In Loikang, the base of the KIA’s Brigade 4, in Kutkai Township, Northern Shan State, fighting

can happen at any time since the Burmese central government started road construction in

April, according to brigade officials.

The branch road, about seven miles long, is to connect Battalion 4 with the main road which

 joins Kutkai-Tamonye-Mongsi.

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The KIA’s Brigade 4 warned Burmese authorities to stop road construction several times

because of concerns the strategy is to cross in the middle of the brigade and to occupy it, said

the brigade’s Chairman, Lahpai Zau Raw.

KIA troops from Brigade 4 warned the road construction workers again on Saturday that it willforcibly stop the construction if they keep going, Zau Raw said.

The KIA is among the strongest ethnic armed groups in the multi-ethnic Union of Burma. It is

demanding the establishment of a genuine federal union and self-determination.

Under the leadership of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the

KIA, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a political and military alliance of twelve

ethnic armed and political groups was formed in February.

The UNFC aims to restore a genuine union ensuring equal rights among ethnic people.

The KIA officials said the latest military tensions with the Burmese Army will lead to civil war if

the central government’s forces keep pressure on the KIA in those areas.

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