Myanmar’s military regime has lost control of all border trade routes with China in Kachin and northern Shan State after the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) seized Sadung town this week.
The Sadung tactical command is one of 10 junta positions the KIA has seized since launching its offensive along the road to the border trade town of Kanpiketi in Kachin State’s Waingmaw Township on Tuesday. Junta troops are now effectively cornered in Kanpiketi as the KIA controls the rest of the border trade route.
In April, KIA troops seized the Kachin border trade town of Lwelgel, 310 kilometers south of Sadung by road.
“It is now fair to say all border trade gates in Kachin State have fallen into the hands of the KIA,” a military observer commented this week.
“Neither the China nor Myanmar side can conduct border trade without approval from the KIA.”
The other junta outposts seized by KIA forces this week included a checkpoint at the junction of the Waingmaw-Sadung-Kanpiketi and Waingmaw-Chipwe-Sawlaw roads, and positions at Bwang Taung Hill and Laphai village. Junta-affiliated Border Guard Force personnel abandoned six other positions during the offensive, said KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu.
“We captured four positions and occupiers fled from six others. We have now taken control of the road from Waingmaw to Laphai. We have yet to seize the area from Laphai to Kanpiketi, with fighting ongoing and the road still unsafe to travel. Transportation can resume when the fighting ceases. We will not disrupt the flow of goods,” said the KIA spokesman.
Daily border trade through Kanpiketi is worth nearly US$ 400,000, and around $350,000 through Lwelgel, according to the Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar, an independent researcher on Chinese interests in Myanmar.
Former army captain Zin Yaw, who defected after the 2021 coup, said: “The KIA is targeting the border gates with China. It has seized Lwelgel. The military will lose all border trade gates in Kachin State when Kanpiketi falls.”
After seizing Laphai village, KIA troops have yet to advance up the road to Kanpiketi, just 16 km away.
Kankipeti is guarded by Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion 1003 in Sin Kyaing village. The Laphai outpost seized by the KIA also belonged to BGF Battalion 1003.
Col. Naw Bu said the KIA would not attack BGF battalions if they ceased cooperating with the regime.
“Militias and the BGF are under the control of the regime. So, we have to fight them when we fight the regime. But if they don’t join the battle, we have no reason to fight them,” the KIA spokesman said.
Kachin State has three junta-affiliated BGF battalions, all led by Kachin militia leader Zakhung Ting Ying. The two others are BGF Battalion 1001 based in Phimaw and BGF Battalion 1002 based in Panwa. Other Kachin militia groups are also fighting for the regime.
Zakhung Ting Ying split with the KIA to join the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), then formed the New Democratic Army-Kachin after the CPB collapsed in 1989. The militia group converted to a Border Guard Force under Myanmar military control in 2009. Zakhung Ting Ying won a seat in the upper house at the 2010 general election.
Four other border trade gates including the major hub of Muse have been seized in neighboring northern Shan State by the Brotherhood Alliance of the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army.
