Myanmar’s military has acknowledged carrying out airstrikes against ethnic Kachin rebels in the country’s north, and said it has captured a hilltop post from where the insurgents launched attacks on government supply convoys. The statement broadcast on state television on Wednesday contradicted government claims two days earlier that the military was not carrying out offensive air attacks on the Kachin, raising questions about how much control the elected government of reformist President Thein Sein has over the army. The AFP news agency earlier reported that strikes were carried out as the military, known as the “Tatmadaw”, battled to regain one of its bases taken over by the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). A military owned news website stated that a key base had been seized from the rebels “with the help of air strikes in the region”. According to James Lum Dau, deputy chief of foreign affairs of KIO, the fighting in Kachin had become “more serious” since last week.
