China has closed its border crossing with Pangwa in northern Myanmar after the ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) reportedly seized control of the border town.
The KIA and its allies last week seized the headquarters of junta-aligned Border Guard Force Battalion 1002 in Lu Pyi village, about 10 km from Pangwa, which is a rare-earth mining hub.
The KIA previously said it was attacking pro-junta positions outside Pangwa, and now the armed group seems to have taken control of the town.
One Pangwa resident said: “The KIA has seized the town. Their troops are inside.”
Hundreds of locals and migrants who fled to the border crossing amid the fighting on Friday are stuck there now that the crossing is shut.
A video clip shot by a resident and shared on social media shows many people waiting at the border checkpoint while distant gunfire is heard in the background. Residents are heard saying they are worried by reports that the junta is planning air attacks.
China only opened the checkpoint for Chinese citizens working in Pangwa.
The resident said: “There are Chinese citizens who work in rare-earth mines, and some have gone back since the fighting.”
The KIA has not yet reported on the fighting in Pangwa, and The Irrawaddy’s phone calls to the Pangwa headquarters of Kachin State Special Region 1 went unanswered.
On Oct. 17, Chinese special envoy to Myanmar Deng Xijun met KIA leaders and pressured them to stop their assault against the regime.
But the KIA continued with its offensive, attacking BGF Battalion 1003 headquarters in Sin Kyaing (Shing Jai) village on the Waingmaw-Sadung-Kanpiketi road.
The misleadingly named BGF is a militia led by junta-aligned warlord Zahkung Ting Ying, who previously controlled all of Kachin State Special Region 1. The KIA has now set its sights on the other two of his three battalions there.
A Kachin military and political analyst said China closed its border crossings with Kachin in response to fighting near the border, and is also restricting the flow of food and other commodities.
“China is putting pressure on KIA leaders by restricting the flow of goods,” he said. “It may take harsher action if fighting intensifies along the border.”
The Myanmar junta, meanwhile, has been targeting Kachin State with indiscriminate airstrikes in response to its military defeats there. In a recent air raid on a village near the KIA’s headquarters in Laiza town, a couple were killed and their house was destroyed, according to the KIA.
