KIA and allied forces capture military Myanmar junta outpost in Zin Bon village, Shwegu Township

Mizzima

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allied forces captured a military outpost where junta troops had established a stronghold in Zin Bon village, Shwegu Township, Kachin State on 30 August, according to Colonel Naw Bu, spokesperson for the KIA.

“(Junta) columns had deployed security and set up a base there. Yesterday, on the 30th, the KIA and allied forces launched an offensive and successfully captured their stronghold,” Colonel Naw Bu told Mizzima 31 August.

Colonel Naw Bu said the junta suffered heavy casualties during the clash, and that the wounded were reportedly transported by helicopter from Shwegu toward Naypyidaw. Mizzima has not yet been able to independently verify the casualty figures from either side.

He also said that on the morning of 31 August, junta forces launched a counter-offensive back into Zin Bon village, leading to further clashes with KIA-led allied forces, after which the junta columns retreated back toward Shwegu.

Heading upstream from Shwegu leads to the Second Defile of the Irrawaddy River, and Zin Bon village sits just before reaching this defile, a strategically important location for controlling passage through it.

In Shwegu Township, a convoy of junta vessels that has been sailing upstream along the Irrawaddy River from Mandalay toward Bhamo since 21 August has paused and remains anchored. Bhamo, Kachin State’s second-largest town, has been under KIA siege since December 2024.

To clear the river route for the convoy to continue toward Bhamo, the junta has been launching ground offensives and conducting airstrikes, resulting in near-daily clashes.

The convoy has repeatedly come under ambush, and the KIA and allied forces have reportedly captured one of its tugboats.