[Tee tiong huat]

KIA Seizes Myanmar Junta Base in Gold, Amber Mining Hub in Kachin.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied resistance forces seized a junta military outpost in a gold- and amber-rich part of Tanai Township, Kachin State on Thursday morning after six days of attacks, according to a statement from the KIA.

The KIA and its allies launched an attack on the junta’s Nambyu outpost in Nambyu Village in Tanai on May 11. The outpost was manned by over 70 junta troops from Infantry Battalions 297 and 260, according to the KIA, the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu confirmed the seizure of the junta base on Thursday, adding that it is the fourth outpost the KIA and its allies have seized in Tanai Township since they launched a wider offensive in the area on March 7.“Nambyu is one outposts used to control areas where gold & amber mines are located. Therefore, its important outpost, as junta’s military has earned a lot of money from those mining hubs,” he said.

However, at least four other junta outposts remain in the area, he added. On March 7, the KIA and its allies, which include the Kachin State People’s Defense Force and the ethnic Arakan Army (AA) based in Rakhine State, launched coordinated attacks on junta bases in Sumprabum and Tanai townships and along the road linking the state capital Myitkyina with Bhamo. On March 18, they seized a junta outpost to the north in Namkawn Village, Tanai Township, where troops from Infantry Battalion 297 were stationed.

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