The New Democratic Army – Kachin (NDA-K), a junta Border Guard Force (BGF), has been forcibly conscripting one family member from each household in Kan Paik Ti Town in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State.
According to a source close to the matter the NDA-K started started conscripting in Kan Paik Ti Town after the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) took control of Chipwi Town in Chipwi Township and Tsawlaw Town in Hsawlaw Township, in Kachin State to the north of Kan Paik Ti Town.
Previously Chipwi Town was held by the NDA-K and was in an area where the group controlled many rare earth mining operations, but on 29 September the KIA took complete control of Chipwi Town.
The source said: "Every household has to send someone to the militia, and even elderly people and little girls are being taken.”
He also suggested that those household members who are unfit for military service, such as the elderly and women, might be used by the militia for other purposes, such as being forced to serve as porters.
According to locals the conscription drive is being run by U Bum Lang, a subordinate of the NDA-K leader U Zahkung Ting Ying. They said that since early October the NDA-K has been demanding that every household send a member as a recruit and arresting the family members of non-compliant households.
The NDA-K is not only conscripting locals. It is also arresting and conscripting migrant workers aged 18 to 30 who are coming to Kan Paik Ti Town for work, according to a resident of the town who spoke to KNG.
He said: "They dragged away nearly every young person, including company employees, waiters, and workers from tea shops and restaurants. The militia doesn’t forcibly take drivers, but I can't say for sure why. Still, the drivers are left to work in a state of anxiety and insecurity.”
The conscription drive has left the residents and migrant workers in Kan Paik Ti Town constantly fearful.
Kan Paik Ti is a sub-township-level town in Waingmaw Township, located in the Myitkyina District of Kachin State. Situated near the border with China, it hosts one of five official border trade posts, which opened on 23 August 1998. The town covers an area of 208.59 square miles and has a population of 5,460, primarily consisting of Christians, according to a census released by the General Administration Office of Myitkyina District in December 2019.
On 10 June, the KIA-led coalition captured Sadon Town in Waingmaw Township, the closest town to Kan Paik Ti. It has since taken control of the territories between Waingmaw and Sadon.
The NDA-K was formed by a former KIA commander, Zahkung Ting Ying (a.k.a. S’Khon Tein Yein), an ethnic Lachik, when he split from the KIA in 1989. He later established Kachin State Special Region No. 1 which the NDA-K controls. It is based in Pang War Town in northeastern Kachin State near the Chinese border and includes Chipwi Township and, before the KIA took it over, Chipwi Town.
