A Kachin Independence Army (KIA)-led coalition seized the last remaining Kachin Border Guard Force (BGF) military headquarters, in Kachin Special Region 1, on 31 October 2024.
The Kachin BGF’s Battalion 1001 headquarters in Nuzungbaung Village near Phimaw Town in Chipwi Township was completely seized by about 6:00 pm on 31 October, though skirmishes continued in the area for several more hours, according to people who lived in the area.
Though local people claimed the headquarters had fallen, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the political wing of the KIA, could not confirm the headquarters had fallen.
A spokesperson for the KIO said to Kachin News Group (KNG) on 1 November: "We haven’t yet received news confirming the capture of the BGF battalion near Phimaw Town. That claim is circulating widely on social media, but we haven't received an official report. We also can’t provide details about the battle at this time.”
But a local who also spoke to KNG was less reticent. They said: "BGF Battalion 1001 has indeed fallen, but clashes are still ongoing between KIA forces and BGF troops who retreated from the headquarters. Residents of nearby villages have already evacuated to safer areas due to the fighting.”
The Battalion 1001 headquarters is about an hour’s drive from Phimaw Town which is still being held by the Kachin BGF.
Many residents from Phimaw Town and villages near to Phimaw Town and the Battalion 1001 headquarters have temporarily fled their homes.
The Kachin BGF used to control all of Kachin State Special Region No. 1 which covers all of Chipwi District and is home to many rare-earth material mines. Chinese owned rare-earth material processing facilities are still operating as normal in Phimaw Town.
Currently, the Chinese border authorities will only allow trucks carrying soil containing rare-earth material through the Phimaw Town border crossing. They will not let anyone or anything else through the crossing.
Since the last week of September the KIA has been launching offensives against junta and Kachin BGF positions in Kachin State Special Region 1. The KIA has now captured the towns of Sadon, Chipwi, Pang War (Panwa), and Hsawlaw in Special Region 1 as well as the military headquarters of all three Kachin BGF battalions.
The KIA captured the Kachin BGF Battalion 1002 headquarters in Lupi Village in Chipwi Township near Pang War Town on 15 October and the Battalion 1003 headquarters in Shing Jai Village, also in Chipwi Township, near Kan Paik Ti Town on 22 October.
The Kachin BGF was previously known as the New Democratic Army – Kachin (NDA-K). 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 and aligned the group with the Myanmar military. The area under the NDA-K’s control in north-east Kachin State near the Chinese border covered all of Chipwi District, including Pang War Town where the NDA-K was based. In 1989 the area was designated as Kachin State Special Region No. 1.
