The United States has imposed economic sanctions on an armed ethnic group in Myanmar, saying it has played a key role in facilitating cyber scams.



The US Treasury Department announced on Monday it had sanctioned the Karen National Army, as well as its leader Saw Chit Thu and his two sons. The group was formerly known as the Karen Border Guard Force, or BGF.



The department said the group was a ''key enabler'' of online scams that harm American citizens, and was involved in human trafficking and cross-border smuggling.



The KNA controls areas in eastern Myanmar along the border with Thailand. Chinese crime syndicates have expanded their activities in the region in recent years.



Since February, the armed group has raided scam centers and freed more than 7,000 foreigners. But the Treasury Department said the KNA had profited on what it called ''an industrial scale'' by leasing land it controls to organized crime groups and providing security and support for them.



Britain and the European Union have already imposed sanctions on the KNA's leader. The group has denied any involvement in cyber scams.