Burma authorities in Kachin State in upper Burma have increased pressure on the Kachin Independence Organization, the main ceasefire group, by beefing up troops along the highway between Myitkyina, the state capital, and Laiza, where goods and timber are transported, according to a source close to the KIO.

The junta has banned basic commodities, furniture and timber which are transported along the road, providing the KIO income from taxes collected from merchants trading in the region, the source told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. The taxes are shared with the regime with the KIO receiving a smaller portion.

“They [Burmese officials] have asked truck drivers not to carry any goods or timber from Laiza to Myitkyina as well as from Myitkyina to Laiza since last week,” the source said. All travelers were also stopped and asked to show their citizen identification, he added.

Goods and timber transported daily by trucks along the Myitkyina to Laiza road are estimated to be valued at 100 millions kyat (US $77,220) per day. The amount of the tax levied was not available.

Beefed up army units along the road are controlled by the chairman of the Kachin State Peace and Development Council and the commander of the Northern Command, Maj-Gen Ohn Myint.

Meanwhile, the regime has also asked the Shan State Army—North to patrol around Mansi and Bamaw Township in Kachin State to interrupt the KIO trade in the region, he said.

Some residents believe fighting will break out between the junta and the KIO as the regime puts more pressure on the KIO. One source close to the KIO disagreed, however, reasoning that all businesses in Kachin State not only benefit to KIO but also the regime.

“It is a kind of pressure or threat because the regime wants the KIO to disarm and some of the KIO leaders want to do it because they support the National Convention,“he said.”But some leaders don’t want to disarm and want a federal union instead.” He said disagreements among KIO leaders are increasing.

The KIO has been recruiting new soldiers, collecting rations and ordered its armies to be on standby alert. Up to 4,000 fresh troops are now on alert at the headquarters in Laiza.

The KIO was also pressured by the regime to sign a statement opposing a statement released by UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on behalf of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Recently, the Burmese army’s Infantry Battalion 146 under the Northern Command raided a KIO frontline office near Laiza and arrested eight soldiers. The soldiers were released after negotiations with the regime.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Burmese military government, Minister for Culture Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint, has traveled to the China-Burma border region to lobby ethnic groups in Shan State, including ceasefire groups such as the United Wa State Army, the Shan State Army-(North) and the Kokang armies, to support the government’s National Convention.