Chiang Mai (Mizzima News) – A soldier in Battalion 3 of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has been detained by a Burmese Military Affairs Security Unit near the Chinese border, according to KIA sources.

The soldier was identified as Private Zaw Nan. His unit is based in San Pai, near the Sino-Burmese border in Kachin State.

He was detained by a militia group led by La Sang Aung Wa on February 12, KIO sources said.

The militia group is a breakaway faction of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). On February 26,  KIA Battalion 3 sent a letter to the militia group requesting his release, but he had already been transferred to the military security unit.

A source close to Zaw Nan’s family said that he was arrested while on his way home to Nan Khaung Village in Kachin State.

The commander of the Northern Command,  Brigadier General Zeya Aung, last year ordered the Border Guard Force led by Zahkung Tin Ying and the militia group led by La Sang Aung Wa to arrest any KIA soldiers they came into contact with or to report them to the authorities.

The junta restricted KIO travel in the area after it rejected an order in September 2010 to transform its troops into the Border Guard Force.