| Operation 0307 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Myanmar civil war | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Tatmadaw |  Kachin Independence Army and several other Kachin-based resistance groups | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Pro-junta groups |
Other anti-junta forces: | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | 21,500+ | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 40+ killed "100s surrendered" | 6+ killed | ||||||||
The Kachin Independence Army's (KIA) offensive in Kachin State, known unofficially as Operation 0307 (after the date it began), is an ongoing military operation against the Tatmadaw military junta of Myanmar which began on 7 March 2024. Primarily centred along the road connecting Myitkyina to Bhamo, Operation 0307 was launched to capture junta bases which could threaten Laiza, the headquarters of the KIA. Operation 0307 was launched alongside concurrent KIA offensives against Hpakant and northern Shan State, and concurrent resistance offensives throughout Myanmar.
Previous Offensives
Hpakant
Northern Shan State
After the Chinese-brokered ceasefire in Northern Shan State between the Three Brotherhood Alliance and the Tatmadaw, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), alongside the Kachin People's Defense Force (KPDF) and the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), began an offensive into northern Shan State with the objective to capture Mongmit District. On 18 January, the allied forces began attacks on Mongmit, captured the Mongmit Police Station and 2 nearby villages. Junta forces responded with air and artillery barrages on the town, forcing allied resistance to put the town under siege. During the offensive on Mongmit, the KIA and allied forces also began launching attacks on neighboring Mabein on 19 January. On 21 January, after several days of fighting, allied resistance captured Mabein and most of the surrounding township. During fighting in Mansi Township on the same day, 17 junta soldiers were forced to cross the China-Myanmar border. On 25 March, allied resistance was forced to withdraw from Mongmit. On 26 March, the KIA captured Nam Hpat Kar village in Kutkai Township.
Tensions with the TNLA
The KIA and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), members of the Northern Alliance and allies, began to experience tense relations in the beginning of February. On 4 February, it was reported that 50 KIA soldiers entered Kutkai, which has been under the control of the TNLA since January. The soldiers told a TNLA checkpoint that they would not stay the night, but they proceeded to deploy in the town centre to celebrate Kachin Revolution Day, setting up flags and telling households to send representatives to a military parade they were reportedly holding the next day without informing the TNLA. In response, the TNLA removed flags and reportedly threatened unarmed civilians. Due to rumours that the KIA was planning to advance on the town from positions in Nam Hpat Kar, residents of Kutkai were concerned that clashes between the 2 armies could erupt.
Operation 0307
On 7 March, the KIA simultaneously launched attacks on over ten junta outposts in eastern Kachin. Fighting primarily took place along the highway between Bhamo and the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, as well as around Laiza. The attacks are reportedly the beginning of a wider offensive in Kachin State, which some has called "Operation 0307" (after the day it began). Over 8 March, the KIA seized three major junta bases and several outposts, including Hpyun Pyen Bum, a junta's closest forward base to Laiza. The KIA and AA continued defending their headquarters and they allege that junta airstrikes had landed on the Chinese side of the border, east of Laiza. During the fighting, a Lisu junta-aligned Lisu National Development Party militia leader was killed in Aung Myay Thit village.
On 8 March, the KIA captured a junta camp north of Sumprabum and began attacking the town and its junta garrison post on 14 March. The attacks were likely part of a larger objective to block off northern Kachin for future offensives into Putao.
By 22 March, the KIA claimed to have captured over 50 military outposts and 13 strategically significant junta bases around the Myitkyina-Bhamo Road, including: all outposts surrounding Laiza, battalion headquarters in 5 townships, and camps near the KIA's old headquarters of Pajau. The Irrawaddy predicted on 23 March that the KIA might attack Bhamo, the headquarters of the 21st Military Operations Command, as the next target of their offensive.
On 28 March, KIA seized two junta bases in Yaw Yone and Nga Gayan near Lweje town on the Chinese border in Momauk Township. By 1 April, the KIA captured the entirety of the Bhamo-Lweje road.