Even as China managed to bring the three-group Brotherhood Alliance to the table and reports emerged of a limited understanding thos week between them and Burmese military junta, the powerful Kachin Independence Army ( KIA) and its allies launched a major offensive in Kachin State on Wednesday , attacking military camps near its Laiza headquarters in Waingmaw Township, as well as in Momauk and Myitkyina townships.

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told mediapersons that the National Unity Government-aligned Kachin Region People’s Defence Force and the Arakan Army are fighting alongside the KIA. “These operations are not related to Operation 1027. We carried them out based on our own plans,” Colonel Bu told mediapersons.

The Burmese military retaliated with its usual bombing civilian areas in and around Laiza. Laiza residents say that at least three bombs fell into Chinese territory during airstrikes this weekend and many on Kachin villages........

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