In Kachin State, the military scored its latest successes since launching a nationwide counteroffensive earlier this year, having reintroduced a mandatory service law in 2024 and boosted its manpower through conscription.
Regime forces have retaken outposts in Bhamo Township, Kachin State that were under the control of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allies for the previous six months, KIA and connected sources confirmed on Friday.
These include the Infantry Battalion (IB) 236 and Tank Battalion (TB) 5014 bases on the north side of the city near Bhamo Airport, according to KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu.
“The IB 236 and TB 5014 bases,” Col. Naw Bu told Myanmar Now on Friday. “In other areas, the situation remains as before. There are still clashes happening, but today it’s relatively quiet in that area. Yesterday morning, the fighting was quite intense. They also suffered casualties and injuries on their side.”
The junta claimed last Thursday that its forces had carried out assaults near the airport, four battalion headquarters, and a military camp, successfully capturing some of the battalion headquarters.
While the regime’s spokespersons did not specify the headquarters they had taken, they released photos showing soldiers celebrating their victory in front of the IB 236 and TB 5014 bases.
While the KIA confirmed the recapture of the two bases, Col. Naw Bu said fighting was ongoing at the Bhamo Airport.
According to Col. Naw Bu, the KIA and its allies still control a section of the airport despite having withdrawn forces from most of its area on August 10, the same date they withdrew from the Artillery Battalion 366 base, another captured junta outpost.
A major district-level city on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, the town of Bhamo came under attack by the KIA, its ally the Arakan Army (AA), and other anti-junta forces in December 2024. The anti-junta groups managed to take over several of the town’s urban wards in less than a month of fighting.
The anti-junta fighters captured the IB 236, Artillery Battalion 366, TB 5014, and Armoured Battalion 7006 bases by February, along with the guard posts around Bhamo Airport.
The town is devastated by airstrikes after the military carried out extensive bombing raids to prevent anti-junta forces from taking full control of the town.
The military regime launched a nationwide counteroffensive this year, sending warships up the Ayeyarwady from Mandalay to Bhamo and conducting rapid ground assaults to retake the town.
Subsequently, during junta’s nationwide counter-offensive in this year, after warships from Mandalay arrived in Bhamo on August 1, the military launched rapid ground assaults to retake urban neighborhoods and military headquarters.
In addition to retaking bases, the junta has maintained functioning communications and logistics bases in Bhamo and held control of the IB 47 base on the town’s south side.
The two recaptured bases were the closest to the army’s Military Operations Command 21 (MOC-21) headquarters, and the junta forces will be able to prevent any effective attacks by the KIA-led fighters on MOC-21 while the bases are under their control.
“They don’t have a clear plan about which direction they will launch their next offensive,” Col. Naw Bu said of the regime forces. “We also still have maintained many positions among their military outposts. So fighting continues.”
A local resident connected to the KIA also said the anti-junta forces were not surrendering the town.
“It’s an advance-and-retreat tactic. They take photos and shoot videos with drones. They take pictures and then retreat,” the resident said of the junta troops. “On our side, it’s also advance-and-retreat fighting.”
Bhamo comprised 16 urban wards and was home to 100,000 people as of the 2014 census and is Kachin State’s second-largest city. It is an important hub on routes connecting Kachin State with central Myanmar and is located less than 40 miles from the Chinese border.
The battle for Bhamo has been bloody, although exact casualty figures are difficult to confirm. Junta propaganda claims there were 4,600 deaths among the KIA-led forces, with another 5,000 wounded in combat.
Since launching an offensive in Kachin State in March 2024, the KIA-led forces claim to have captured scores of junta outposts and 15 towns in the state and adjacent areas of northern Shan State.
Strengthened by several batches of conscripted, freshly trained troops, the Myanmar military launched a counteroffensive this year to recapture lost ground from anti-junta armed groups in central Myanmar, as well as northern Shan, Karen (Kayin), and Karenni (Kayah) states.