Myanmar’s military has launched a second day of airstrikes, targeting territory held by an ethnic armed group near the border with China, according to a spokesperson for the rebel group. These strikes are part of an ongoing conflict as the military is engaged in battles with a coalition of armed groups in a northern region that is host to Chinese investments and where the military claims to have lost ground.
A military aircraft conducted an airstrike near the town of Laiza in Kachin state at 12:45 pm local time (0615 GMT), as confirmed by Colonel Naw Bu, the spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), speaking to AFP. Details on casualties from this particular strike are not available yet, but it follows a previous attack on Laiza in which a jet dropped three bombs, resulting in one fatality and twelve injuries.
On Tuesday, the junta-controlled Global Light of New Myanmar newspaper reported that soldiers and officers were killed when the KIA attempted to seize a major road in Kachin state. The military responded with what they termed an “appropriate counterattack,” without providing further specifics. They also mentioned that the neighboring country had been warned in advance about the operation.
In neighboring northern Shan state, thousands of people have reportedly been displaced as three other ethnic armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the junta last Friday. This region is of strategic importance, being home to oil and gas pipelines supplying China and a planned billion-dollar rail link as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road global infrastructure project.
China’s Minister for Public Security held talks with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday for the second consecutive day to discuss the attacks by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic armed group, on security camps, with the aim of destabilizing peace and stability in the region.
The MNDAA, along with the Arakan Army (AA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), have claimed control over sections of key roads to China, Myanmar’s largest trade partner, since launching their offensive on Friday. On Wednesday, these groups announced that they were in “complete control” of Chinshwehaw town on the China border and Hsenwi, situated on the road to the China border. It remains unclear whether the junta still maintains control over these towns.
Reporters from AFP have been unable to reach residents in Hsenwi and Hopang township, located approximately 10 kilometers from Chinshwehaw. The ethnic armed groups have reported dozens of military casualties since Friday, though AFP has not independently confirmed casualty figures.
Myanmar’s borderlands are home to more than a dozen ethnic armed groups, some of which have been in conflict with the military for many years, driven by aspirations for autonomy and control over valuable resources. In response to the 2021 coup and the military’s crackdown on dissent, some of these groups have established “People’s Defense Forces.”
The AA, MNDAA, and TNLA, collectively believed to have at least 15,000 fighters, have sporadically clashed with the junta since the coup. Security analyst Anthony Davis, based in Bangkok, has noted that the military is facing “unprecedented pressure to respond to the sharpest military reverses it has suffered” since the coup.
China has maintained relationships with certain ethnic armed groups along its border with Myanmar, an area inhabited by ethnic Chinese communities that use Chinese SIM cards and currency. China has previously denied reports of supplying weapons to these groups.
Earlier this month, a strike on a camp for displaced people in Kachin state resulted in nearly 30 deaths and dozens of injuries. The KIA attributed the attack to the junta.