8/8/2019 Burmese and Kachin Troops Surround Each Other in Northern Burma

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Burmese and Kachin troops surrounded each other last night and early this morning in three

different places in Kachin State, northern Burma. This has happened after the military regime

recently labeled the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) an insurgent group following a bomb

blast, according to sources close to the events.

 

Troops of KIA circled the Lajayang Burmese military checkpoint after Burmese policemen and

Army troops circled the KIA’s liaison office in Hopin and Mohynin, situated between Myitkyina

and Mandalay, said KIA officers in its Laiza Headquarters, near Lajayang, in eastern Kachin

State, near the China border.

The KIA troops surrounded the Lajayang checkpoint at 1 a.m. They withdrew at 3 a.m., after the

KIA commander met with Burmese Military Affairs Security agents, added KIA officers.

Until now, the two KIO liaison offices remain surrounded by Burmese military forces. There are

two staff in each office, KIA officers confirmed to the Kachin News Group today.

The two sides surrounded each other after Mohnyin policemen arrested Dabang Hkawng Lum,

the Hopin Liaison Officer yesterday evening. However, he later escaped with the help of his

bodyguard, according to a KIA officer.

KIA officers in Laiza said Hkawng Lum was arrested after he came back from visiting a man in

the Mohnin Public Hospital who was injured when a KIA landmine exploded in the territory

controlled by the KIA’s Battalion 5 in Pinball, Mogaung Township, on October 13.

Burmese police and troops surrounded both KIO liaison offices last night around 8 p.m. local

time, very soon after his escape, added the KIA sources.

A KIA officer in Laiza said, “We have called on the junta’s Northern Regional Command, based

in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, to cease surrounding the two liaison offices. We are

waiting now for the junta’s response”.

The state run newspapers reported on October 15th the KIA was officially labeled “Insurgents”

by the Burmese military for the first time after the KIA mine killed two civilians and injured one.

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8/8/2019 Burmese and Kachin Troops Surround Each Other in Northern Burma

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News

On October 17th, the KIA released a statement saying it plants security mines around its

territories for self-protection, but it takes pre-cautions aimed at protecting local people.

The tension has increased between the military and the armed Kachin group in these last three

weeks leading up to the junta-led countrywide elections.

However, the KIO has no plan to shut down its liaison offices around Kachin State and there is

also no fresh military build-up in the area by the Burmese Army, said KIA officers.

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