Junta soldiers have conducted raids on scam centres and fought gun battles with People’s Militias guarding the centres in Muse Town, Shan State.

Two raids on places involved with online fraud were carried out in Muse Town on 23 September 2024.

The first set of raids on the morning of 23 September were on apartments in Muse Town’s Loisutaung Mountain area (Sutaungpyae Ward) and Swamsaw Ward, according to a Muse Town resident.

They said: “They [junta soldiers] first arrested people from the outskirts of the town. The arrested individuals were transported back to the Mingalar Muse area in vehicles. And when they went to arrest the online telecom scammers operating around the Mingalar Muse area, they exchanged fire with the People’s Militia [members].

Later, at 12:30 pm on 23 September, junta soldiers carried out another raid on an online fraud operation near to the Mingalar Muse area of Muse Town and again exchanged fire with People’s Militia members who were guarding the fraud operation, according to local residents.

A 40-year-old man said: “The shooting between the People’s Militias and the junta makes you think. In reality, they are the same group. The People’s Militia is under the junta’s control. I don’t know if it [the fighting] is for real.”

A 30-year-old local man said that the junta’s recent crackdown on online fraud operations along the China-Myanmar border is all just a show to appease the Chinese government.

He said: “They are arresting people because of China’s pressure. Otherwise, they wouldn’t arrest them. The telecom fraud operations have created a revenue stream for them [the junta]. In my opinion, there must be some kind of deal between them [the junta and the People’s Militia]. So, with things turning out this way, we’ll just have to wait and see how the political situation changes.”

Despite past joint efforts between Myanmar and China to arrest those operating online scams on the Myanmar/China border, the number of scam operations there has only increased.

Following the raids the junta announced that it will be carrying out thorough checks of people in Muse Town for three days from 23 September.

The aforementioned 40-year-old man said: “I don’t know what kind of deal they have made with China. They will be conducting strict checks for the next three days. Young people should be careful when going out.”

In recent times there has been little law and order in Muse Town. There are at least 15 junta-aligned militia groups operating in Muse Township.

Muse Township is in an area where ethnic armed organisations are very active. But, despite ongoing tensions and fighting it remains one of the few areas in northern Shan State where the junta and ethnic armed groups have managed to avoid open hostilities.

Though there has been no fighting, residents of Muse Town are still fearful due to the current lack of security in the town and the presence of active armed groups in the area.