The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has told a militia allied to Myanmar’s junta to change sides after seizing territory along Kachin State’s border with China this week.
The KIA and allied Kachin People’s Defense Force seized Chipwi town on Tuesday evening and Sawlaw town on Wednesday morning.
Chipwi and Sawlaw, about 120km northeast of the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, are in territory claimed by Zahkung Ting Ying, who leads the New Democratic Army – Kachin (NDA), a junta-aligned Border Guard Force (BGF). The so-called Kachin Special Region 1 claimed by the NDA includes Chipwi, Pangwa, Sawlaw and Kanpiketi townships.
KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu said the KIA will attack militias that cooperate with the regime.
“We are not fighting civilians or our brothers. We fight the regime and we will fight groups that cooperate with the regime. They must change sides,” he said.
BGF groups are deployed in Kanpiketi, Pangwa and Phimaw along the Chinese border.
Most junta troops and allied militias have been driven out of Chipwi and Sawlaw since the KIA attacked Light Infantry Battalion 298 in Sawlaw on September 29 and defeated it four days later.
The border towns of Chipwi and Sawlaw have rare-earth mines.
Zakhung Ting Ying on June 7 announced: “We must crush any enemy that enters our region. Don’t let [the KIA] leave after entering our region.”
KIA second-in-command General Gun Maw on September 10 criticized Zakhung Ting Ying’s order on social media.
Zakhung Ting Ying broke away from the KIA in 1970. He joined the Communist Party of Burma, which collapsed, and signed a ceasefire with the then-military regime in 1989.
The BGF was officially formed in 2009 in compliance with the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. Zakhung Ting Ying won an upper house seat in the 2010 general election.
A military analyst said the KIA wanted to hold talks with the NDA as it advances into the rest of the border region.
“The KIA will try to negotiate as well as fight. The population is all Kachin tribes. They are more likely to engage in talks. But Zakhung Ting Ying may be stubborn. KIA troops are inside his territory. There is no way out. They must either keep fighting or hold talks.”
The KIA has also seized Sadone town on the Waingmaw-Kanpiketi road.
