There are travel delays on the Ledo Road between the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and Danai Town also in Kachin State, about 117 miles (about 188km) to the northwest.
The delays have been caused by increased tension between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the junta-aligned Min Zay Thant militia group along the road.
On 14 March 2025, members of the Min Zay Thant militia group raided a KIA checkpoint in Warazut Village, Hpakant Township, on the Myitkyina to Danai section of the Ledo Road. Since then tension between the two groups has remained high which has led to delays and security issues for travellers.
The 117 mile drive between Myitkyina and Danai usually takes no more than a day with no need for an overnight stop.
However, since 15 March, following the fighting, rising tensions between the KNU and Min Zay Thant militia have forced vehicles travelling along the road to stop en route, to get updates on the military situation ahead of them. Now, some towns along the road have also starting enforcing curfews, meaning that no traffic can go through those towns after 6:00 pm.
Now driving between Myitkyina City and Danai Town requires an overnight stop.
A 30-year-old Danai Township resident said: “When traveling along the Myitkyina to Danai Road, we always have to stay alert to the military situation. Normally, the journey between Myitkyina and Danai wouldn’t even take a day. But these days, if we hear that military tensions are high, we often end up spending the night on the road. We can only move forward when we feel the situation has calmed down enough. Recently, on my trip to Myitkyina, I had to spend the night in Nanmati Village [in Monghnyin Township].”
When military tensions are high, vehicles departing from Danai often have to spend the night in the villages of Nanmati or Lawa, whilst those leaving from Myitkyina typically have to overnight in the villages of Bangkauk and Nammahpyit, all four of which are in Hpakant Township.
In recent days, since the beginning of April, the Min Zay Thant militia group has become more active along the Ledo Road and it has frequently skirmished with the KIA around the villages of Nawngmi, Warazut, and Lawa. The fighting has included artillery fire which has increased travellers’ security concerns.
Sometimes, the militia group stops passenger buses travelling on Ledo Road and checks the passengers.
During fighting around the villages of Warazut and Lawa in the first half of March the junta carried out airstrikes in support of the he Min Zay Thant militia group. In one of these airstrikes, on Warzut Village on 14 March, one civilian was killed and 16 homes were destroyed.
