China Fires Warning Shots as Regime Jets Circle KIA’s Border HQ

Myanmar regime fighter jets fire missiles and flares during a military drill in 2019. / AFP

China’s security forces fired warning shots on Thursday to defend the country’s airspace from Myanmar junta warplanes circling over the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Laiza on the Chinese border in Kachin State, according to residents and the ethnic army.

Regime fighter jets and Y-12 airplanes circled over the ethnic armed organization’s headquarters on Wednesday and Thursday after KIA-led resistance forces destroyed or sunk around 20 vessels in two flotillas resupplying regime forces in contested Bhamo, Kachin State, in early September.

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told media on Thursday he heard several shots from the Chinese side as a junta airplane flew toward Laiza along a route that traced the Myanmar-China border.

Laiza residents confirmed to The Irrawaddy that junta warplanes have been circling the town since Wednesday, adding that schools have been closed for one to two weeks.

Since Wednesday, the KIA and its allies have issued warnings urging the Kachin public to remain on alert.

Citing the tense military situation in Kachin State and the threat of airstrikes by the Myanmar military, the KIA and allied groups urged the public to avoid mass gatherings, dig bomb shelters at every home, avoid non-essential long-distance travel, and promptly inform one another if an air-raid warning is received.

Despite the intimidating overflights, the regime warplanes did not attack Laiza. However, several fighter jets reportedly dropped bombs on KIA territory in the state’s Hpakant Township on Thursday evening.

In late August and early September, the regime sent two supply flotillas up the Irrawaddy River, transporting rations, weapons, ammunition and reinforcements to Bhamo.

Regime warplanes heavily bombed areas along the river in an effort to create a secure path for the flotillas, while ground units conducted operations along the banks, sparking clashes with KIA-led forces.

During the clashes, the resistance forces managed to destroy or sink nearly 20 vessels, including barges, tugboats and gunboats, while nearly 200 regime personnel and their family members surrendered.

Ah Htoi contributed to this story.