Kachin fighters take town from Myanmar military, border guard force

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the date when Zahkung Ting Ying broke with the Kachin Independence Army. The correct date is 1968, not 1989. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allies seized control of Kan Paik Ti, Kachin State on Wednesday evening, completing their takeover of the state’s Special Region 1 from a junta-allied border guard force, sources said. According to a resident of the region connected to the KIA, the Kachin ethnic armed group began its final push to seize Kan Paik Ti—located in Waingmaw Township on the border with China some 50 miles east of the state capital Myitkyina—around 9am on Wednesday, successfully taking full control of the town by around 5pm that say. “The Kan Paik Ti police station has been captured, and the town has been seized. It was taken over completely in the evening,” he said. A KIA-led alliance of anti-junta forces has reportedly fully taken control of the town, including all government buildings, the police station, and junta army camps. Most junta troops and pro-junta militia members who were resisting the KIA offensive retreated over the border into China with their families, according to the KIA-connected source, and KIA-led forces have captured or accounted for the rest in clearing operations after taking control of the town. The KIA and its allies have been engaged in offensive operations around the Kachin Special Region 1 towns of Pangwa(Pang War), Chipwe Township and Kan Paik Ti, Waingmaw Township since October. Kachin Special Region 1 encompasses Chipwe and Tsawlaw townships as well as Kan Paik Ti. The entire region was historically controlled by battalions under the command of the elderly warlord Zahkung Ting Ying, now 84 years of age. After splitting from the KIA in 1968, Zahkung Ting Ying served as a commander in the armed wing of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), later establishing the armed group New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) following the CPB’s 1989 collapse. In 2009, he oversaw the NDA-K’s incorporation into the Myanmar military’s command structure as a border guard force (BGF). Kan Paik Ti border trade gate in 2023 (Photo - Myanmar Now) The border militia forces commanded by Zahkung Ting Ying issued a statement in June declaring their intention to “crush” any KIA or PDF forces entering their territory. Orders issued on June 7 authorised BGF battalions 1001, 1002, 1003 and militia to attack any KIA and anti-junta resistance forces found within their territory. A few days later, the KIA and its allies seized the town of Sadung, Waingmaw Township, less than 14 miles west of Kan Paik Ti on June 11. Fighting in the area paused following the capture of Sadung but KIA-led offensives resumed in September, soon after KIA vice chair Lt-Gen Sumlut Gun Maw called the BGF orders ‘illegitimate’ on social media. During its revived offensive, KIA-led forces managed to capture the towns of Chipwe, Tsawlaw, Pangwa, Hpi Maw, and Kan Hpan. They also captured the BGF 1001, 1002, and 1003 battalion bases, claiming scores of the BGF’s fighting members surrendered or defected to their side. Since March of this year, the KIA and its allies have captured the towns of Sumprabum, Injangyang, Sadung, Chipwe, Tsawlaw, Hpi Maw, Pangwa, Dawthponeyan, Sinbo, Myo Hla, and Momauk as the border trade town of Lwegel (Lweje or Loi Je) in Kachin State as well as the town of Mabein and village of Nam Hpat Kar, Kutkai Township in northern Shan State. Kan Paik Ti border trade gate in 2023 (Photo: Myanmar Now)

Kachin fighters take town from Myanmar military, border guard force

Forces led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have now fully captured Kachin State’s Special Region 1, a resource-rich territory previously controlled semi-autonomously by a junta-allied Border Guard Force (BGF)

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