Local peace talks were held in Rangoon (present-day Yangon) and the regions, with a meeting with the Rakhine Kway Zan Shwee's communist party held in Ngapali. Almost 300 troops were in the Lashio-Kutkai region and about 380 in Mamaw-Myitkyina in 1962. By early 1963 the KIA had one brigade, six battalions and its numbers had increased to over 1,000. The army grew after it occupied the Mamaw-Sein Lung and Mamaw-Man Wing roads, advancing to the west bank of the Irrawaddy and the northeastern Myitkyina and Hu Gawng valleys.