Four Myanmar Navy ships attacked along Irrawaddy River in Kachin State as convoy continues

Four Myanmar Navy vessels were either destroyed or damaged by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin State’s Shwegu Township on Wednesday. No casualties were reported. A KIA source told DVB on the condition of anonymity that artillery attacks from the shore caused two naval vessels to sink, two supply boats to run aground, and around 100 military personnel to surrender. Shwegu is located 119-181 miles (191-291 km) southwest of the KIA headquarters in Laiza and south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina. The naval convoy has been traveling along the Irrawaddy from Mandalay Region to Kachin State’s Bhamo Township since mid-August. Around 800 military personnel, weapons, ammunition and food are being sent to regime positions in Bhamo, according to a military defector who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the 2021 coup. The battle over control of Bhamo has been ongoing since December 2024. Bhamo is located 118 miles (190 km) south of Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Laiza. A Shwegu resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that 15 Navy vessels continued toward Bhamo after the KIA attack. Shwegu is located 64 miles (103 km) west of Bhamo. At least one civilian was killed and two others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Sagaing Region’s Wetlet Township on Aug. 22. Wetlet, located along the Irrawaddy 50 miles (80 km) northeast of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, and 193 miles (310 km) south of Shwegu, is partially controlled by the People’s Defence Force (PDF). KIA-led resistance forces, including the PDF, have been engaged with regime forces in Kachin’s Bhamo and Shwegu, as well as in northern Shan State’s Momeik Township. Momeik is located 184-246 miles (296-395 km) south of Laiza and Myitkyina and 182 miles (292 km) west of the regional capital Lashio. The KIA launched its statewide offensive on March 7, 2024, which has led to the seizure of northern Shan’s Mabein, as well as Kachin’s Sumprabum, Injangyang, and the lucrative rare earth mining towns of Chipwi, Pangwa and Tsawlaw.