Fighting reported on Mogok–Momeik Road between Kachin Independence Army and military

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that fighting broke out with regime forces at an unspecified location along the Mogok-Momeik Road, somewhere between Mogok Township in Mandalay Region and Momeik Township in northern Shan State, on Sunday. 

Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, acknowledged the fighting to DVB but said that he couldn’t confirm the exact location. The People’s Defense Force (PDF) confirmed that it was fighting alongside the KIA against regime forces.

Naw Bu told BBC Burmese on Dec. 1 that Momeik is close to KIA-controlled areas in northern Shan, and that the KIA would assist its allied PDF. Momeik is located 28 miles (45 km) northeast of Mogok.

The Kachin News Group, a media outlet covering the KIA offensive in Kachin State and northern Shan, reported on Nov. 30 that the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has told KIA and PDF forces not to enter Momeik, so that it can complete its handover of the town to the regime as agreed to in its China-brokered ceasefire deal reached on Oct. 29.