Fighting between the Burmese Army and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) recently broke out after their 17-year ceasefire agreement.

The Irrawaddy senior reporter Wai Moe interviews La Nan, the joint-secretary of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), to determine the immediate situation in northern Burma.

Kachin Independence Army (KIA)

Answer: At around 3 am on June 9, government troops started firing heavy weapons and approached our camp. We shot back at them at around 7 am and ceased firing at 11:45 am. They, however, continued firing at us until 12:30 pm. The fighting that day ended then and the exchange of prisoners of war (POW) followed. Tensions rose again on June 10 and they relaunched their offensive at 3:45 pm. They shot at our Battalion 15 from a distance with heavy weapons. Battalion 15 is stationed at the origin of Tarh Pin River in Momauk Township of Bhamo District in Kachin State. The shooting is still going on.       

Q: What are the casualties from both sides so far?

A: on June 9, two soldiers from our side were wounded. We already have evidence that one of our men who was captured by the other side was beaten to death. So, two wounded and one POW that day, but the POW was already killed by the time he was returned to us. His whole body was covered by wounds and his face was swollen so badly that we couldn't even recognize who he was.

On their side, one officer and three soldiers died. I don't know how to describe his title correctly—whether he is a captain or a major. He was given the salary of a major and was soon to become deputy commander of a battalion. Also, one captain and eight soldiers [on the government side] were wounded. 

On June 10, three soldiers from our side died. They [government troops] used heavy weapons so we had to stay inside bunkers and fought back from there. Our soldiers died by pieces of shrapnel from a shell that hit a tree above their bunker. We have no other causalities. We heard many soldiers from their side were wounded.

Residents in Momauk and Bhamo told us that wounded soldiers were taken to hospitals there and were under guard. They said around 30 soldiers were admitted to hospitals on the first day of fighting. Clashes went on the whole day on June 11 and 12 so I guess that, if around 30 were wounded per day, there would now be nearly 100 injured. I still can't confirm the number but people in Bhamo tell me this is how it is.    

Q: KIO liaison offices were reportedly seized by government troops recently. Is this true?

A: No, it wasn't like that. On June 9, one of our members, who was assigned in our liaison office located near the hydropower plant in Hsan Gan, was arrested by government authorities. He was then beaten and killed, and his body was left in front of our office like an animal for two days.  

We opened our liaison offices to deal with the government through diplomatic means. But they [Burmese authorities] treated our members on diplomatic missions however they wanted—which involves arrests, beatings and killings.

So we became very much concerned about the safety of our members living in our main and liaison offices in Myitkyina. Thus, we withdrew them overnight on June 10. The government didn't order us to close down our office, but we just shut it by ourselves.

We don't have a liaison office in Momauk but fighting is going on in that area. When clashes broke out, our office in Myitkyina took care of communications between the KIO and the government's Northern Command. Our staff in the Myitkyina office are in [the government] circle so instead of “closing down” the office it would be more appropriate to say that we have called back our staff to our headquarters. If necessary, we will revitalize our liaison office later.

Q: How are you going to handle electricity distribution in Myitkyina as it was taken care of by the KIO?

A: Our electricity distribution prioritizes people living in Myitkyina and Waingmaw cities. We don't make any profit from the distribution, which is handled by the KIO's company Bokha Co. Ltd. Our company obtained an official permit from the then State Law and Order Restoration Council and opened an office in Myitkyina. We called back our members from that office on June 10 as well but we couldn't shut it down completely because local people there would be in great trouble.

There are civilian employees in the office so we asked them to continue the distribution. We only withdrew our members who are in leading positions. The remaining staff are not KIO members so I don't think it will be any major risk for them to stay. We have only made losses in electricity distribution but have continued just for the comfort of local people.

Q: How about the situation in Laiza where the KIO headquarters are based?

Before talking about this, let me continue what I was saying earlier. It seems that they [government troops] want to capture the mountain where our Battalion 15 is stationed by hook or by crook. It seems that they want to be based there. That's why they used all their troops available in Kachin State to attack that place. For us, we want to reduce the clashes—we want no clashes at all. So, we only resisted their offensive with the strength we had in Battalion 15 and didn't make the fighting bigger by adding more of our troops from elsewhere.

Our Battalion 25 is stationed within sight of Battalion 15. I think they have deployed about ten battalions, moving back and forth to attack us. We considered the current problem quite big enough and there would be battles across the Kachin State if we deployed more troops, that's why we didn't do so.

I am not sure if they were concerned about the deployment of our troops from Laiza or have other plans, but they have certainly deployed more and more troops. For instance, they have carried heavy weapons from Myitkyna and blocked our exits. Based on their movements, I can say that they are likely to expand the battles while we are trying not to engage in further clashes.

Q: Will it be possible to regain a ceasefire agreement between the two parties?

A: A former minister from Naypyidaw rang us on Sunday. I don't want to mention his name. He called one of us and asked him to control our troops. He said if we don't the whole country may become embroiled in war and that he will discuss the matter with the president. Our man replied that there will be many changes within the next two days and they must stop their offensive and reduce their plans for attack if they are really willing for no more clashes. [The former minister] then said he will report back to his seniors in their meeting [on Monday] and let us know how it goes. But we have not received any reply so far.