YANGON: Myanmar and Thailand`s busiest trade crossing was closed for a second day on Tuesday after the military junta pledged to throttle black markets funding armed opposition groups ahead of a disputed December election.

The military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, controls the Myawaddy bridge that carries more than $1 billion of trade between the neighbouring nations every month, according to Thai customs figures.

However, along the highway linking the crossing to the commercial capital Yangon, its troops are fighting a civil war against an array of guerrillas who fund their fighting with lucrative toll gates.

Naing Maung Zaw, a spokesman for the military`s Border Guard Forces, said the crossing had been shut `for trading vehicles` since Monday.

The military has pledged to clamp down on illicit trade funding its opponents ahead of a December 28 election, which is already being criticised abroad as a ploy to rebrand continuing military rule.

The vote is also set to be blocked in huge tracts of the country administered by a kaleidoscope of pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic armed organisations that have found common cause since the coup.

A Thai security source based at the border, speaking anonymously, said the junta had `set regulations to make it uncomfortable for minority groups, to try to stop them from earning money or benefits`.The military has made limited gains against rebels in recent weeks, seizing back ground where it can now hold the election. -AFP