Residents and business owners in the border trade hub of Muse are facing mounting financial pressure as multiple armed groups increase demands for “tax” payments across the city.

Since early June, businesses including private schools, grocery stores, telecommunications shops, and currency exchange operators have reportedly been targeted by various armed organizations seeking payments. The growing number of demands has placed a severe financial burden on local businesses.

“This week, members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) came to collect taxes using documents dated November 2025,” a resident told SHAN. “It is unclear whether this is an official policy or the actions of individual soldiers, but it is creating an unbearable burden for the public. The leadership of these groups should investigate what is happening on the ground.”

Muse is currently under the influence of multiple competing authorities. In addition to the military junta’s administrative structures, ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) including the KIA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP/SSA) operate in and around the city. Residents also report the presence of at least 15 pro-junta Pyusawhti militia groups.

According to local residents, these groups frequently demand payments but provide little or no security in return.

“We are caught between the TNLA, the SSPP, and the KIA, all demanding their own share,” said a local woman working in the education sector. “The SSPP is currently demanding between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan [approximately 600,000 to 1.2 million kyats] annually from money changers. I have also been contacted by the KIA regarding fees, although the amount has not yet been finalized.”
Residents say the demands are increasingly enforced through threats and intimidation.

“If you don’t pay, they threaten you,” the resident said. “There have already been two grenade incidents, including at least one explosion.”

The deteriorating security situation has also created conditions in which criminal groups can operate with relative impunity. On the afternoon of June 9, four unidentified armed men targeted family members of a gold shop owner in Muse’s South Ward. According to local sources, the assailants rammed the victims’ vehicle, fired warning shots, and robbed them in broad daylight.

As security in Muse continues to deteriorate, business owners remain trapped between competing armed actors, forced to make multiple payments while facing a growing threat of crime and violence that no authority appears willing—or able—to prevent.