The Burmese government has deployed tanks and troops near Laiza, the general headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), in eastern Kachin State, northern Burma, according to local sources.

Eyewitnesses said six tanks from Northern Regional Command (Ma-Pa-Kha), based in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, traveled to Infantry Battalion (IB) No. 58, based on the outskirts of Waingmaw Town.

Burmese Army tanks and trucks crossed the Irrawaddy River at the Balaminhtin Bridge, which connects the two main towns of Myitkyina and Waingmaw, on Tuesday, Feb 22, at 10:30 a.m. local time. They then marched into the Waingmaw Township, according to eyewitnesses.

Two Burmese army battalions from Danai (Tanai) Township, under Regional Operation Command (ROC or Sa-Ka-Kha)- Shahtuzup-based IB No. 238 and Danai-based IB No. 297- were stationed in the Sadung area in the township before the tanks arrived in Waingmaw, KIO officials at Laiza HQ said.

People in Sadung said more Burmese troops and government drug eradication teams are currently operating in the area, preventing destruction of opium fields by the KIO.

Earlier, the KIO destroyed several opium fields in the controlled area of the Border Guard Force under command of Burma Army, formerly known as the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), Nhpang Naw Bu, spokesperson of the KIO Drug Eradication Committee based in Laiza said.

Waingmaw Township has been the largest producer of opium in Kachin State since 2004. The opium has been mainly cultivated in areas controlled by the junta and the NDA-K, which transformed into the military-controlled BGF in November, 2009.

Officials of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed-wing of the KIO, confirmed to the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, Burmese troops under Northern Regional Command are increasingly operating near KIO territories in Kachin State under orders from the Ministry of Defense.

The Burmese military has avoided entering the KIO’s territories since troops from the Mohnyin-based IB 15 were fired upon by troops from the KIA’s battalion 27, in Manwin Township, in Manmaw (Bhamo) district, on February 7, according to KIA officials.

The KIO is the strongest ethnic armed group after the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and is playing a leading role in the recent formation of two ethnic political and military alliances- the Committee of Emergence for a Federal Union (CEFU) and the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC).

The alliance is calling for the formation of a genuine federal union, with equal rights for the Burman majority and all ethnic people in Burma.

On Monday, February 21, the KIO called a special meeting for members of the People’s Defense Force, in Laiza. Those in attendance were informed by the KIA’s Chief of Staff, Maj-Gen Gunhtang Gam Shawng, that all members have to do full-time military service in the KIA if necessary, participants said.

The People’s Defense Force was formed last year and is under control of the KIO’s Department of General Administration (DGA), also known as the Civil Administration Department.

Observers say civil war could erupt in Kachin State any time between the KIO and the Burmese Army.