Airstrikes kill 17 Kachin Independence Army and People’s Defence Force trainees in Kachin State

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.

“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, which 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.

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.