Fighting between regime forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) broke out along the 47-mile (75 km) Momeik-Twinnge road on Oct. 8-9. Momeik Township is located 170 miles (273 km) west of the regional capital Lashio, and 185 miles (297 km) south of the KIA headquarters in Laiza.
Twinnge is a village located in Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township, which was seized by KIA allies in the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in August 2024 but was recaptured by regime forces on July 23, 2025.
A source in the KIA told DVB that fighting also occurred along the 35-mile (56 km) long road connecting Momeik to Mabein Township in northern Shan on Oct. 7.
Mabein, located 217 miles (349 km) northwest of Lashio and 149 miles (239 km) south of Laiza, was seized by the KIA in January 2024. No casualties were reported from either the KIA or the military.
A regime counteroffensive along the Momeik–Mabein axis, which aims to regain territory seized by the KIA across northern Shan and Kachin states over the past two years, began in August.
A military defector told DVB that recapturing Mabein—located 35 miles (56 km) north of Momeik—is vital for the regime to establish a springboard into in southern Kachin State, where the KIA and regime forces battle over control of Bhamo and Shwegu townships.
The ethnic Palaung Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) seized Momeik in July 2024, but handed back control of it and neighboring Mogok Township in Mandalay Region to the regime—as part of a China-brokered ceasefire deal—on Nov. 30, 2025.
The KIA launched its statewide offensive on March 7, 2024, which has led to the seizure of northern Shan’s Mabein, as well as Kachin’s Sumprabum, Injangyang, and the lucrative rare earth mining towns of Chipwi, Pangwa and Tsawlaw.
