Kanbalu

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Kanbalu (also spelt Kantbalu [1] ) is a town in Shwebo District, Sagaing Division, in Myanmar. Located in the north-western part of the county, the town is the administrative seat for Kanbalu Township. Kanbalu is on the main Burmese north-south railroad between Sagaing and Myitkyina. [1] As of 2014, it had a population of 25,022 [2]

Contents

History

Its railyards were bombed by the Allies during World War II. [3] During the Myanmar Civil War, it was attacked by resistance forces, who torched the local police station. [4]

Following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, an ultranationalist monk U Wasawa established a Pyusawhti militia in Hmaw Taw village to launch offensives against the region's People's Defense Force. Several villages in Kantbalu have been turned into Pyusawhti bases, with U Warthawa reportedly forcing locals to join the militias. Initially armed with homemade weapons, around 900 Pyusawhti members in Kantbalu have since been supplied with modern BA-63 (G-3) rifles, MA-1 assault rifles, and carbines. His influence has spread to Kanbalu township, Taze, and Kyunhla—key towns known for their military and Union Solidarity and Development Party support. [5]

Economy

The military-run Myanmar Economic Corporation operates two factories, manufacturing sugar and menthol, in Kantbalu. [6] The sugar factory is a joint venture with Thai-owned Sutech Engineering. [7] Kanbalu is also home to the 30 megawatts (40,000 hp) Thaphanseik hydropower plant on the Mu River, a $20-million project financed by the China Import and Export Bank. [8]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Map of Sagaing Division" Archived 2010-03-28 at the Wayback Machine Myanmar's NET
  2. ↑ "Myanmar: Regions, States, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  3. ↑ Carter, Kit C. and Mueller, Robert (1980) The Army Air Forces in World War II: combat chronology, 1941-1945 Arno Press, New York, pages 489, 493, ISBN   0-405-12151-2
  4. ↑ Maung, Thura (3 November 2023). "Resistance force overruns police station in Kanbalu, Sagaing Region". Myanmar Now. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "Pro-Myanmar Junta Militias, Nationalist Monks Forcibly Recruiting Villagers in Sagaing". The Irrawaddy. 2 November 2022.
  6. ↑ Maung Aung Myoe (2009). Building the Tatmadaw: Myanmar Armed Forces Since 1948 . Institute of south-east Asian Studies. pp.  183. ISBN   9789812308481.
  7. ↑ "Thai Company Building Mill". The Irrawaddy. July 2001. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Hydropower Plant Put Into Service". The Irrawaddy. June 2002. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2012.

23°12′14″N95°30′55″E / 23.20389°N 95.51528°E / 23.20389; 95.51528


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