Sources in the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that at least 17 of its trainees, including an unknown number from its allied People’s Defence Force (PDF), were killed and 19 others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on a KIA training facility in Shwegu Township, Kachin State, on Sept. 17. Shwegu is located 181 miles (291 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and 119 miles (191 km) southwest of the KIA headquarters in Laiza.
“Kachin PDF members were among the killed. I think the location of the training ground was leaked somehow,” Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB. He added that three Myanmar Air Force jets dropped bombs at least three times on the KIA training facility at an undisclosed location in Shwegu.
A source close to the KIA told DVB on the condition of anonymity that regime forces might be able to track the location of KIA troops’ through online activity, or a phone signal. “We change the training location [frequently],” the source added.
Frontline sources told DVB that both ethnic armed groups and the PDF rely on satellite internet, known as Starlink, but the radio frequency signals from routers can possibly be tracked.
Independent media reported that 36 men at a KIA training facility were killed by airstrikes in Mohnyin District of Kachin State on March 31. Mohnyin is located 96 miles (154 km) southwest of Myitkyina and 160 miles (257 km) west of Laiza.
The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on Sept. 14 that out of Kachin State’s 18 townships, elections won’t be held in Sumprabum, Injangyang, Chipwi and Tsawlaw. These four are under KIA control.
The UEC also included Mabein Township, located in neighbouring northern Shan State, in its list of 56 townships where elections will not be held.
Myikyina, Mohnyin, Putao and Shwegu are under regime control. Bhamo, Hpakant and Waingmaw are contested between KIA and regime forces.
The first phase of the regime general elections is scheduled to begin in 102 townships out of Myanmar’s total of 330 on Dec. 28, with subsequent polls planned for unspecified dates in January 2026.
