The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) resumed its battle against regime forces over control of Bhamo Township, located in southern Kachin State, on Wednesday, following a two-week pause in fighting after the new year. 

No casualties were reported but a KIA source on the frontline told DVB that the Myanmar Air Force had launched retaliatory airstrikes to defend military positions against KIA and People’s Defence Force (PDF) attacks on Jan. 14. 

Bhamo is located 118 miles (190 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of the KIA headquarters of Laiza. Fighting between the KIA and regime forces over control of Bhamo has been ongoing since Dec. 4, 2024.

Local media reported that the KIA captured the regime’s Transport Battalion 933, located around five miles (8 km) east of Bhamo town on Jan 14. DVB has not been able to independently verify this information with its sources on the ground in Bhamo.

Residents of Khaunglanhpu Township in Putao District, located in northern Kachin State, told DVB that regime forces with the support of local militias have been preparing a counteroffensive since Jan. 6 to recapture outposts in Khaunglanhpu and Tsawlaw townships seized by the KIA. 

Both towns are located along the Myanmar-China border.

A source close to the KIA told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the regime’s Infantry Battalion 46 in Putao Township sent over 200 troops to reinforce its positions around Khaunglanhpu town this week. 

The source added that pro-regime forces failed to regain control of the Lahisin outpost in Khaunglanhpu and Lanse village in Tsawlaw in September 2025.

The KIA and its allied PDF captured the Lahisin outpost in December 2024 and Lanse village in October 2024.  

Sources on the frontline told DVB that the Lahisin outpost is “strategically important” as it sits on the route between Khaunglanhpu and Chipwi and Pangwa–formerly known as Kachin Special Region One–in northeastern Kachin State, which was seized by the KIA on Nov. 20, 2024.

The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) scheduled its third and final round of voting in Kachin’s Bhamo, Mansi, Momauk, Hpakant and Shwegu townships on Jan. 25. 

It held the first two rounds of voting in nine townships, including  Myitkyina, Mohnyin, Putao, Naungmon, Khaunglanhpu, Tanai, Machanbaw, Mogaung, and Waingmaw, on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11.  

The UEC cannot hold elections in Sumprabum, Injangyang, Chipwi and Tsawlaw, which were seized by the KIA in its statewide offensive against regime forces launched on March 7, 2024. Kachin State has a total of 18 townships. 

Bhamo and Hpakant, a jade mining hub located 94 miles (151 km) west of Myitkyina, as well as Waingmaw, located 30 miles (48 km) east of Myitkyina, are contested between KIA and regime forces.