Media in Karen State reported that the Border Guard Force (BGF) leader Saw Chit Thu consulted Buddhist monks, political parties, and members of the public, about his plan to rebrand his pro-military militia as a “Karen National Army [KNA].”
Naing Maung Zaw, the BGF spokesperson, told DVB that they “wanted to serve the people and build peace in the region,” adding that they would present their wish for reformation and name change from BGF to KNA to the regime in Naypyidaw.
The BGF-controlled territory in Karen State consists of four military regions with an estimated 7,000 troops in 13 battalions: four in Hlaingbwe Township, two in Hpapun Township, two in Kyainseikgyi Township, and five in Myawaddy Township.
The BGF headquarters is located at Shwe Kokko, where it has been accused of running illegal gambling and online scam operations, which rely on human trafficking victims to use deceptive practices and extortion under the threat of violence.
Media in Karen State reported Saw Chit Thu’s claims at a meeting in Myaing Gyi Ngu village of Hlaingbwe on July 20 that his BGF has grown to over 60 battalions with around 10,000 troops in Karen State along the Myanmar-Thailand border.
Hlaingbwe is located 24 miles (38 km) north of the state capital Hpa-An. At the July 20 meeting, Saw Chit Thu repeated his claim that the BGF, which he attempted to rename the KNA last year, would break from regime command.
The BGF originally announced it would stop receiving support from Naypyidaw last year. But when the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) seized control of the regime’s remaining outpost in Myawaddy in April 2024, the BGF switched its allegiances back to the regime and supported its return to the strategic outpost.
Myawaddy, the vital Myanmar-Thailand border town, is located 81 miles (130 km) east of Hpa-An and across the Thaungyin (Moei) River from Thailand’s Mae Sot, Tak Province.
Saw San Aung, the commander of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), told DVB that he viewed the BGF proposed reformation as a “step towards peace” whether the regime supports it this time or not.
Mann Aung Pyi Soe, the chairperson of the Karen National Democratic Party (KNDP), told DVB that he did not understand why the BGF is announcing a “name change.” The KNDP was formed by three Karen State-based parties in February 2018.
A member of a Karen civil society group told DVB on the condition of anonymity that no BGF officials, including Saw Chit Thu, should ever be included in a proposed “Karen National Army.”
On May 5, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Saw Chit Thu and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, over alleged ties to online scam operations in Myawaddy.
The E.U. sanctioned Saw Chit Thu’s company for his alleged ties to online scam operations and human trafficking in October. Saw Chit Thu has denied all the allegations made against him.
The regime Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has blacklisted the Chit Linn Myaing Toyota Company — reportedly owned by Saw Chit Thu — along with 196 other companies for “failing to deposit foreign currency earnings from exports” in June.
The Karen BGF was established in 2010 after it split from the DKBA, which itself split from the KNLA in 1994, and sided with the military.
