Residents of Pangwar Town in Chipwi Township, Kachin State have fled because they fear junta airstrikes since the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) captured the town on 18 October 2024.
Prior to the KIA’s arrival the town was controlled by Battalion 1002 of the Kachin Border Guard force (BGF), which was previously the New Democratic Army – Kachin (NDA-K) until it transformed into a BGF in 2008.
Previously, on 15 October, the KIA took control of the Kachin BGF’s Battalion 1002 headquarters in Lupi Village, also in Chipwi Township.
Since the KIA took control of Pang War Town fighting in the area has stopped and the situation has calmed down. However, residents are evacuating because they fear that the junta will launch airstrikes on the town in support of its ally, the Kachin BGF.
A woman from Pang Wa Town who is planning on leaving said to KNG: "Almost all the migrant workers [from other areas of Myanmar] who came to Pang War have already returned home, and Pang War residents are beginning to leave the town as well. Our family has packed all our luggage and is waiting for a car to pick us up. It's currently very difficult to charter cars because demand is so high; nearly all families with cars have already left. Now, only about a third of the town's population remains, and those who are still here are preparing to depart as soon as the situation allows.”
When the KIA launched its offensive against Pang War on 17 October there was gunfire throughout the town which caused residents to rush to the border with China which is on the southern edge of the town, but the Chinese authorities refused to let them seek shelter in China.
Later that day, when it became clear that the KIA would take over Pang War Town, locals stopped trying to reach the Chinese border. Instead, they started evacuating to Waingmaw and Myitkyina townships in Kachin State.
The aforementioned woman from Pang War Town said: "Everyone has left the town out of fear of airstrikes. When conditions are safe, I’m sure they will all return. There are various rumours circulating about potential airstrikes, and every day brings new rumours of aircraft coming to bomb. This has left people feeling constantly worried. All the shops in town are closed, making Pang War feel like a ghost town. For now, the clashes have calmed down, but concerns remain high.”
According to Pang War Town residents, the exodus of residents and migrant workers in cars and on motorcycles is causing traffic disruption in some areas.
The KIA has taken control of two of the three Kachin BGF Battalion bases. The only one it does not yet control is the Kachin BGF Battalion 1001 base in in Nuzungbaung Village, also in Chipwi Township.
The Kachin BGF also still controls the nearby towns of Phimaw and Kam Phan in Chipwi Township, leading to military tensions between the KIA and the BGF in those areas.
Pang War Town lies on the China Myanmar border about 64 km from Chipwi Town in an area designated as Kachin State Special Region No 1, an area originally controlled by the NDA-K when it broke away from the KIA in 1989 which it continued to control after it transformed into a BGF in 2008.
Pang War Town is a hub for rare earth mining which, until the KIA came into the area, was controlled by the Kachin BGF under its leader Zahkung Ting Ying.
