Local sources report that due to the military council’s restrictions on transportation of goods to areas controlled by the Three Brotherhood Alliance (3BHA) troops in northern Shan State, supplies are now being rerouted through Mogok town at significantly higher costs.
The junta has been strictly controlling the flow of goods since November 2024 to cut off food supplies to northern Shan State’s townships that were lost to the 3BHA. Local residents report that goods must now be transported via the circuitous route through Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)-controlled Mogok city, causing prices to surge dramatically.
A local merchant from Kyaukme said, “The checkpoint at the 16-Mile checkpoint outside Mandalay has been closed for over three months now. To get goods to Hsipaw and Kyaukme, we have to go through the Mandalay-Mogok road. Then we have to transport them again from Mogok to Monglon. When you add up the transportation costs and checkpoint fees, prices have gone up more than 3 or 4 times what they used to be.”
Currently, goods are being transported along the Mogok-Monglon-Kyaukme-Hsipaw route, with transportation costs and checkpoint fees causing prices to increase three to four times compared to previous rates, according to merchants.
Similarly, truck drivers report that the junta has been blocking vehicles carrying supplies to 3BHA-controlled towns in northern Shan State since October 2024, starting at the 16-Mile checkpoint outside Mandalay.
Since mid-November, the junta has indefinitely closed the Lawksawk-In Taw-Kyauk Gu-Nawnghkio route, which connects southern Shan State under junta control to TNLA-controlled Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, and Hsipaw Townships. Large cargo trucks are only permitted passage upon payment, according to local sources.
In early January, the military junta announced on 2 January that they had arrested 17 people for selling and transporting fuel to gold mining sites in areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).
Sent by Shan News.
