Tensions are running high between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kutkai town, northern Shan State, residents told The Irrawaddy.
Kutkai is on the major trade route to China and the TNLA has been installing an administration in Kutkai after seizing the district-level town on January 8.
Around 50 KIA troops entered Kutkai on February 4, reportedly telling a TNLA checkpoint outside the town that they would not stay overnight.
But they deployed in the town and planned to celebrate Kachin Revolution Day on February 5 in the town center without notifying the TNLA. They allegedly told households to each send a representative to the event and fly the Kachin flag.
KIA troops and Kachin residents flew the national flags along the union highway and in the town but TNLA troops removed the flags, according to residents.
A resident told The Irrawaddy: “We were scared that morning after seeing Kachin flags along the road. We heard that KIA would hold a military parade but it didn’t.”
Kutkai Kasa, a Kachin civil society organization, condemned the TNLA troops for forcibly taking down Kachin flags, saying they threatened unarmed civilians at gunpoint.
A TNLA member in Kutkai told The Irrawaddy that the flags were removed because the KIA did not say it was planning to deploy in the town and organize the event, and because town residents were concerned.
Numerous KIA troops were allegedly planning to advance on the town from Nam Hpat Kar village, which it seized from the regime last month, prompting the TNLA to reinforce.
The KIA troops in Kutkai are stationed at the organization’s former liaison office and two schools.
“We fear there will be clashes,” said a resident.
The Irrawaddy was unable to reach the KIA for comment.
The TNLA attacked a junta outpost guarding a bridge on the highway between Kutkai and Nam Hpat Kar in early December. KIA troops arrived at the bridge following the fighting, resulting in tensions between the KIA and TNLA troops over control of the bridge.
Troops from the other two members of the Brotherhood Alliance besides the TNLA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Arakan Army, are also in Kutkai, according to residents.
