Armed soldiers loyal to a turncoat warlord patrol the streets of southeastern Myanmar's frontier town of Myawaddy, as troops of the ruling junta and rebels jostle for control of the outpost that handles more than $1 billion in border trade every year.

Saw Chit Thu controls trade worth $1 billion in the crucial border town of Myawaddy in Myanmar, which is witnessing a power struggle between resistance fighters and junta forces. The warlord with around 8,

Resistance soldiers were forced to leave Myawaddy, a key trading center on the border with Thailand, weeks after capturing it.

An armed ethnic group in Myanmar has withdrawn its troops from a town along the Thai border following a counteroffensive by the ruling junta from whom rebel fighters wrested the key trading post this month,