Burma

Zahkung Ting Ying

Burma / Myanmar seems to have been a real stew-pot guerilla warfare for, I dunno, decades? Came across this story from Jamestown that sheds a little light on some recent conflicts. Introduction below.

Zahkung Ting Ying: Rise and Fall of the Rare-Earth Warlord in Myanmar - Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan

Poppy cultivation soared under Ying’s supervision, and illicit extraction of rare earth elements (REE) proved lucrative for his militias in the Kachin BGF-controlled territories. In November 2024, his Kachin fiefdom was dissolved by the rival ethnic rebel group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), after a months-long military offensive that defeated all three battalions of the Kachin BGF (The Irrawaddy, October 23, 2024; The Irrawaddy, November 29, 2024). 

Despite fleeing from the KIA offensive—allegedly to the PRC—Ying has resurfaced and has been seen interacting with Myanmar junta officials. His business ventures are also partially operational despite the complete annihilation of his militias, making him a still-influential militant figurehead in Myanmar's ethno-politics (Frontier Myanmar, August 15, 2025). 

"Complete annihilation" is not a phrase you hear very often.