[Tee tiong huat]

KIA Seizes Three Junta Positions in Battle for Myanmar-China Trade Route.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) launched an onslaught against junta positions along the road to the border trade town of Kanpiketi in Kachin State’s Waingmaw Township on Tuesday, seizing three by evening, according to KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu.

The KIA captured a junta checkpoint between Waingmaw and Sadung, a position on Bwan Taung Hill, and an outpost of Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion 1003 between Sadung and Kanpiketi, said Col. Naw Bu

“We seized 3 positions today, clashes are also taking place in other locations. We intercepted junta reinforcements from Waingmaw,” the
captured positions had been guarded by junta soldiers and junta-affiliated militias, he added.

The regime responded by using missile launchers and howitzers to bombard Sadung and its vicinity, as well as KIA and allied forces advancing from their Kashi base. Two Mi 35 helicopter gunships also provided fire support for junta ground troops, according to sources.

In May, ethnic Kachin armed groups seized three junta bases in Waingmaw Township, including Light Infantry Battalion 321 headquarters and a Kashi base. The strategically significant 13th mile checkpoint seized by the KIA on Tuesday sits on the junction of the Waingmaw-Sadung-Kanpiketi road and Waingmaw-Chipwe-Sawlaw road.

The recaptured outpost was responsible for guarding BGF Battalion 1003 based in Sinkyaing village, Waingmaw Township, ethnic Laphai area was previously under control of KIA, which ran a school & checkpoint there but retreated following Myanmar military attacks in 2011.

Kanpiketi is among major Kachin border trade hubs with China. "It’s an important route for trade flows,” commented Col. Naw Bu.

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-again...rade-route.html