Insurgencies
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...
have been ongoing in
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
since 1948, the year the country, then known as Burma,
gained independence from the United Kingdom. The conflict has largely been
ethnic-based, with
several ethnic armed groups fighting Myanmar's armed forces, the
Tatmadaw
Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...
, for
self-determination. Despite
numerous ceasefires and the creation of autonomous
self-administered zone
A self-administered zone is an administrative subdivision in Myanmar (Burma). There are five ''self-administered zones'' and one ''self-administered division''.
Self-administered zones and self-administered division
See also
* Administrativ ...
s in 2008, many armed groups continue to call for independence,
increased autonomy, or the
federalisation of the country. The conflict is the world's longest ongoing civil war, having spanned more than seven decades.
Background
In 1940, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, a group of young Burmese intellectuals left for Japan to receive military training in preparation for an anti-colonial struggle against the British. This group came to be known as the
Thirty Comrades
The Thirty Comrades ( my, ရဲဘော်သုံးကျိပ်) constituted the embryo of the modern Burmese army called the Burma Independence Army (BIA) which was formed to fight for independence from Britain. This was accomplishe ...
, and upon returning to Burma in 1941 they established the
Burma Independence Army
The Burma Independence Army (BIA), was a collaborationist and revolutionary army that fought for the end of British rule in Burma by assisting the Japanese in their conquest of the country in 1942 during World War II. It was the first post-c ...
(BIA) to fight against the Allies. Upon their capture of Rangoon in 1942, the Japanese established a
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sove ...
, the
State of Burma
The State of Burma (; ja, ビルマ国, ''Biruma-koku'') was a Japanese puppet state created by Japan in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II.
Background
During the early stages of World War II, the Empire of Japan in ...
, and reorganised the BIA as its armed forces, the Burma National Army (BNA).
Aung San
Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947) was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his goa ...
, the leader of the State of Burma and one of the Thirty Comrades, became increasingly sceptical of Japan's ability to win the war as time progressed, and in mid-1944 he decided to switch sides. Japanese forces capitulated by July 1945, and the British began to negotiate Burma's independence with Aung San and other prominent Burmese leaders.
In the lead up to Burmese independence, Aung San negotiated with
Chin,
Kachin, and
Shan leaders, and the
Panglong Agreement
The Panglong Agreement ( my, ပင်လုံစာချုပ် ) was reached in Panglong, Southern Shan State, between the Burmese government under Aung San and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin peoples on 12 February 1947. Aung Zan Wai, Pe ...
was reached between them. The agreement promised full autonomy for the areas inhabited by the three ethnic minorities, with an option to secede from Burma ten years after independence. However, Aung San was
assassinated shortly afterwards, and the Panglong Agreement was not honoured by the post-independence government under U Nu. This further strained relations between the
Bamar
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of th ...
ethnic majority and the country's many ethnic minorities.
Course of the conflict
Post-independence insurgencies (1948–1962)
Following Burma's independence from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948, the two largest opposition groups in the country were the communists, led by the
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is a clandestine communist party in Myanmar (Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country.
Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fought ag ...
(CPB), and the Karen nationalists, led by the
Karen National Union
The Karen National Union ( my, ကရင် အမျိုးသား အစည်းအရုံး; abbreviated KNU) is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), that claims to represent the Ka ...
(KNU).
Initially there was calm during the transitional period after independence, but on 2 April 1948, the CPB fired the first shots of the conflict in Paukkongyi, Pegu Region (present-day
Bago Region). At its peak, the CPB had 15,000 fighters in 1949.
During the post-independence period, the KNU favoured an
independent state
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
, governed by the Karen people. The proposed state would have encompassed the territories of Karen State and Karenni State (present-day
Kayin State
Kayin State ( my, ကရင်ပြည်နယ်, ; kjp, ဖၠုံခါန်ႋကၞင့်, italics=no; ksw, ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်, ), also known by the endonyms Kawthoolei and Karen State, is a state of Myanmar. The ...
and
Kayah State
Kayah State ( my, ကယားပြည်နယ်, formerly Karenni State) is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and we ...
), in
Lower Burma (Outer Myanmar). The KNU has since shifted their focus from full independence to
regional autonomy Regional autonomy is decentralization of governance to outlying regions. Recent examples of disputes over autonomy include:
* The Basque region of Spain
* The Catalan region of Spain
* The Sicilia region of Italy
* The disputes over autonomy of pr ...
, under a
federal system
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments ( provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single p ...
with fair Karen representation in the government.
Ne Win era (1962–1988)
![They go back](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/They_go_back.jpg)
After three successive parliamentary governments governed Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, led by General
Ne Win, enacted a
coup d'état on 2 March 1962, which ousted the parliamentary government and replaced it with a
military junta
A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
. Accusations of severe human rights abuses and violations followed afterwards, and the cabinet of the parliamentary government and political leaders of ethnic minority groups were arrested and detained without trial.
[Pavković, 2011: 476] Around this period, other ethnic minority groups began forming larger rebel factions, such as the
Kachin Independence Army
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: ''ShangLawt Hpyen''; my, ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), a pol ...
, in response to the new government's refusal to adopt a federal system.
Many insurgent groups, communist and ethnonationalist alike, became increasingly receptive of the
Maoist
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
concept of a "
people's war
People's war ( Chinese: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to main ...
" after failed peace talks with Ne Win's government in 1963. The CPB maintained close relations with the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
(CCP) and replicated China's
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
. The CPB's imitation of their Chinese allies was perceived by many Burmese as an attempt by China to intrude into Burmese affairs, a sentiment which led to the violent
1967 anti-Chinese riots in Burma
The 1967 anti-Chinese riots in Burma ( my, ၁၉၆၇ တရုတ်-ဗမာအရေးအခင်း) refer to riots led by mobs of the dominant Burmese population against Chinese people in Myanmar, Chinese people in Burma. The trouble fla ...
. By the time the riots were quelled, 31
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
civilians had been killed and several Chinese-owned businesses had been burned down.
Both immediately after the coup and again in 1972, Ne Win held peace talks with several insurgent groups, but both times they fell apart. This was partly due to Ne Win's refusal to adopt a federal
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...
. After negotiations failed, defectors from the Tatmadaw and ethnic insurgents walked back to their bases, with headlines across Myanmar famously reading "They have gone back" (). Private property was confiscated by the government, and the
Burmese Socialist Programme Party
The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), ; abbreviated , was Burma's ruling party from 1962 to 1988 and sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government in a coup d'ét ...
(BSPP) was founded in 1974 to govern the country under a
one-party system
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
. Under Ne Win's
26-year dictatorship, Myanmar became an isolated
hermit kingdom and one of the
least developed countries in the world. In 1988,
nationwide student protests resulted in the BSPP and Ne Win being ousted and replaced with a new military regime, the
State Peace and Development Council.
8888 Uprising
On 12 March 1988, students began demonstrating in Rangoon (present-day Yangon) against the totalitarian rule of Ne Win and his
Burma Socialist Programme Party
The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), ; abbreviated , was Burma's ruling party from 1962 to 1988 and sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government in a coup d'ét ...
(BSPP). The protests quickly spread across the country, and the BSPP government was eventually pressured into adopting a multi-party system. However, the BSPP government was overthrown in a
military coup d'état on 18 September 1988. The military then established the
State Law and Order Restoration Council
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* '' State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our ...
(SLORC) and violently cracked down on protesters, ending all demonstrations by 21 September 1988.
Authorities in Myanmar claimed that around 350 people were killed, while opposition groups claimed thousands died in the protests at the hands of the military.
[Ferrara (2003), pp. 313][Wintle (2007)] According to ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'', over 3,000 people were killed in the demonstrations.
Despite its violent suppression of the 8888 Uprising, the new military junta agreed to ceasefire agreements with certain insurgent groups after the demonstrations ceased.
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...
emerged from the 8888 Uprising as a symbol of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement, leading the country's largest opposition party, the
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy ( my, အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, ; abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (Burma). It ...
(NLD). The military junta arranged a
general election in 1990 to elect members of a parliament-sized
constitutional committee which would draft a new constitution. The NLD won a supermajority of the seats, but the military junta, surprised by the outcome, refused to recognise the results and placed Aung San Suu Kyi under
house arrest.
SLORC / SPDC rule (1988–2011)
After voiding the results of the 1990 election, the military junta consolidated its rule over Myanmar. The SLORC was abolished in 1997 and replaced with the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), which consisted of eleven senior military officers.
In the 1990s, the Tatmadaw severely weakened ethnic insurgent groups, destroying most of their bases and strongholds.
In 2006, the Tatmadaw launched a large-scale military offensive against the KNU's armed wing, the
Karen National Liberation Army
The Karen National Liberation Army ( ksw, ကညီဒီကလုာ် တၢ်ထူၣ်ဖျဲး သုးမုၢ်ဒိၣ်, my, ကရင်အမျိုးသား လွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်မတ ...
(KNLA). The clashes resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Kayin State. According to one estimate, approximately half a million people were displaced due to fighting between government forces and the KNU, and the forcible relocation of villages by the government.
In 2007, hundreds of thousands of monks protested against the military junta's rule, and called for
free elections,
minority rights
Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group.
Civil-rights movements ...
and the release of
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s in an event now known as the
Saffron Revolution
The Saffron Revolution ( my, ရွှေဝါရောင်တော်လှန်ရေး) was a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that took place during August, September, and October 2007 in Myanmar. The pro ...
.
The protest originally began in response to the government's removal of price subsidies for
compressed natural gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...
.
In 2009, junta forces attacked
Kokang
Kokang ( my, ကိုးကန့်; ) is a region in Myanmar (Burma). It is located in the northern part of Shan State, with the Salween River to its west, and sharing a border with China's Yunnan Province to the east. Its total land area i ...
, resulting in
MNDAA
, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg
, caption = Flag of the MNDAA
, active= – present
, leader = Peng Daxun
, ideology = Kokang nationalism Separatism
, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party ...
lost control of the area and as many as 30,000
refugees fled to
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
in neighbouring China.
In 2010, Tatmadaw forces
clashed violently with
DKBA-5
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army - Brigade 5 ( my, ဒီမိုကရက်တစ်ကရင်အကျိုးပြုတပ်မတော် - တပ်မဟာ 5; Abbreviation, abbreviated DKBA-5), also known as the Democratic Kar ...
, resulting in nearly 10,000 refugees fleeing to Thailand to escape the violent conflict.
Civilian government (2011–2021)
The government introduced a new
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
in 2008 and instigated a
period of political reforms from 2011 to 2015, with thousands of
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s being released, including Aung San Suu Kyi. The 2008 constitution also created five autonomous
self-administered zone
A self-administered zone is an administrative subdivision in Myanmar (Burma). There are five ''self-administered zones'' and one ''self-administered division''.
Self-administered zones and self-administered division
See also
* Administrativ ...
s and one self-administered division for six ethnic minority groups. In November 2014, the NLD attempted to make amendments to the constitution, in response to a clause that made Aung San Suu Kyi ineligible to become
President of Myanmar
The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current preside ...
if her party won an election. These amendments however, were rejected.
In 2013, large
anti-Muslim riots flared up in various cities across Myanmar. The violence coincided with the rise of the Buddhist nationalist
969 Movement
The 969 Movement () is a Buddhist nationalist movement opposed to what they see as Islam's expansion in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar (Burma). The three digits of 969 "symbolise the virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist ...
, led by Sayadaw U
Wirathu
Wirathu ( my, ဝီရသူ, pi, ; born 10 July 1968 in Kyaukse, Mandalay Division, Burma) is a Burmese Buddhist monk, and the leader of the extremist 969 Movement in Myanmar. He has been accused of supporting the persecution of Muslims ...
.
After the end of political reforms in 2015, the government began hosting a number of peace conferences in hopes of ending the conflict. However, these efforts were criticised for not addressing the main proposals made by ceasefire groups, and for excluding the country's largest insurgent groups which were still active. Critics of the government have argued that the current constitution of Myanmar grants the military too much power, and is preventing the country from achieving peace and democratic reforms. A number of politicians and activists have been killed for voicing their opposition to the military's role in the government, such as constitutional lawyer
Ko Ni, who was assassinated after he called for political reforms to reduce the military's influence.
In Shan State, the military continued to engage the MNDAA during the
2015 Kokang offensive
The 2015 Kokang offensive was a series of military operations launched by the Myanmar Army in 2015 in Kokang in northern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). Several clashes between the Myanmar Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army had tak ...
.
On 9 October 2016, the
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), formerly known as Harakah al-Yaqin ( "faith movement" in English), is a Rohingya insurgent group active in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. According to a December 2016 report by the International Cri ...
(ARSA)
launched its first attack on Burmese border posts along the
Bangladesh–Myanmar border
The Bangladesh–Myanmar border is the international border between the countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar (formerly ''Burma''). The border stretches , from the tripoint with India in the north, to the Bay of Bengal in the south. About of the bo ...
, killing nine border officers.
This prompted the Tatmdaw to begin massive "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State, which intenisified following
a second large-scale attack by ARSA on 25 August 2017.
The subsequent violence has sparked
international outcry and was described as an
ethnic cleansing by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In late November 2016, the
Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
—which consists of four
insurgent groups, the
Arakan Army
The Arakan Army ( my, ရက္ခိုင့်တပ်တော်, Rakhaing Tattaw; abbreviated AA) is an ethnic armed organisation based in Rakhine State (Arakan). Founded on 10 April 2009, the AA is the military wing of the United Lea ...
(AA), the
Kachin Independence Army
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: ''ShangLawt Hpyen''; my, ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), a pol ...
(KIA), the
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army
, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg
, caption = Flag of the MNDAA
, active= – present
, leader = Peng Daxun
, ideology = Kokang nationalism Separatism
, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party ...
(MNDAA) and the
Ta'ang National Liberation Army
The Ta'ang National Liberation Army ( my, တအောင်း အမျိုးသား လွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်မတော်; abbreviated TNLA) in Myanmar (Burma), is the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberati ...
(TNLA)—
attacked towns and border posts along the
China–Myanmar border
The China–Myanmar border is the international border between the territory of the People's Republic of China and Myanmar (formerly ''Burma''). The border is 2,129 km (1,323 mi) in length and run from the tripoint with India in the nor ...
in
Muse Township, northern Shan State.
The insurgents captured the town of
Mong Ko on 25 November 2016 and maintained control of it until they withdrew from the town on 4 December 2016 to avoid civilian casualties from
airstrikes by the
Myanmar Air Force
The Myanmar Air Force ( my, တပ်မတော် (လေ), ), known until 1989 as the Burmese Air Force, is the aerial branch of Myanmar's armed forces, the Tatmadaw. The primary mission of the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since its inception h ...
.
On 15 August 2019, Northern Alliance insurgents attacked a military college in
Nawnghkio Township
Nawnghkio Township is a township of Kyaukme District in the Shan State of eastern Myanmar. The principal town and administrative seat is Nawnghkio. The name 'Nawnghkio' was started to call after a camp near a green lake ( Shan language: nawng = ...
, killing 15. Further clashes occurred in the following days, with Myanmar's military warning there could be a "full-scale war" in Shan State if the Northern Alliance did not halt their attacks.
2021 coup d'état and resurgence of violence
![Aung San Suu Kyi & Min Aung Hlaing collage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi_%26_Min_Aung_Hlaing_collage.jpg)
On the early morning of 1 February 2021, the civilian government led by the NLD was
overthrown in a military coup d'état, and the Tatmadaw's commander-in-chief, Senior General
Min Aung Hlaing
Min Aung Hlaing ( my, မင်းအောင်လှိုင် abbreviated: MAL ; born 3 July 1956) also known as Alaungsithu is a Burmese politician and army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Coun ...
, became the head of state. Aung San Suu Kyi and several other senior members of her government were arrested by the military during the coup.
Mass protests followed, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Min Aung Hlaing and the newly created
State Administration Council
The State Administration Council ( my, နိုင်ငံတော်စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကောင်စီ; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Comm ...
(SAC), the release of those arrested in the coup, and the restoration of the civilian government.
Anti-coup protesters have armed themselves with slingshots, molotov cocktails, and makeshift shields.
In late March 2021, it was reported that dozens of protesters had travelled to Myanmar's border areas to train under one of the country's many insurgent groups, elevating the risk of a countrywide civil war. The civilian government-in-exile, the
Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), has proposed the formation of a "federal armed force" to combat the military.
One of the first instances of armed resistance by protesters occurred in and around the town of
Kalay
Kalay ( my, ကလေး), also known as Kale, is a town in the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located upstream from Mandalay and Monywa on the Myittha River, a tributary of the Chindwin River. The town is the district headquarters of the Kalay D ...
,
Sagaing Region
Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lon ...
. After the Tatmadaw raided a
protest camp
Protest camps are physical camps that are set up by activists, to either provide a base for protest, or to delay, obstruct or prevent the focus of their protest by physically blocking it with the camp. Protest camps may also have a symbolic or repr ...
in Kalay on 28 March 2021, protesters
fought back with hunting rifles and homemade firearms. Several insurgent groups, notably the Kachin Independence Army and the Karen National Liberation Army, have also resumed or escalated their attacks against the Tatmadaw in response to the coup.
Seven signatories of the
Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), officially the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Ethnic Armed Organisations ( my, တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံး ပစ် ...
announced on 4 April 2021 that they had decided to join the
National Unity Government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...
, including the
and the Karen National Union. Some of the groups have resumed hostilities towards the junta government.
In
Mindat Mindat may refer to:
Places in Burma/Myanmar
*Mindat, Chin State, in Burma
*Mindat Township, in Burma
*Mindat District in Chin State, Burma
Other uses
*Mindat Min
Kanaung Mintha ( my, ကနောင်မင်းသား; 31 January 1820 ...
and
Hakha, Chin State, the Chinland Defence Force began an armed resistance on 26 April 2021.
On 5 May 2021, the National Unity Government declared the formation of an armed wing, the
People's Defence Force (PDF), to protect its supporters from military junta attacks and as a first step towards a Federal Union Army. It clashed with the Tatmadaw in the town of
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
on 23 May, killing at least 13 members of Myanmar's security forces. Members of the Karenni People's Defence Force (KPDF) in
Kayah State
Kayah State ( my, ကယားပြည်နယ်, formerly Karenni State) is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and we ...
also clashed with the Tatmadaw near the state capital of
Loikaw
Loikaw (, ) is the capital of Kayah State in Myanmar. It is located in the Karen Hills area, near the State's northern tip, just above an embayment on the Pilu River. The inhabitants are mostly Kayah (Karenni). Myanmar's largest hydropower p ...
.
The Communist Party of Burma rearmed itself and announced the creation of its new armed wing, the People's Liberation Army, in late 2021.
ACLED estimated that 11,000 people had been killed from February to December 2021.
Conflict by state or region
Chin State and Sagaing Region
The
Mizo people of
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...
, India, and the
Chin people of Myanmar, as well as the
Kuki people
The Kuki people are an ethnic group native to the Mizo Hills (formerly Lushai), a mountainous region in the southeastern part of Mizoram and Manipur in India. The Kuki constitute one of several hill tribes within India, Bangladesh, and Myanma ...
, are all
Zo people
The Zomi are an ethnic group which can be found in India, Myanmar and in Chittagong hill tracks of Bangladesh. The word Zomi is used to describe an ethnic group, which is also known as the Chin people, Chin, the Mizo people, Mizo, the Kuki peop ...
who share a common culture and history.
In 1960, the Chin Liberation Army was founded by Tun Kho Pum Baite to unify the Chin-inhabited areas, while the
Mizo National Front
The Mizo National Front ( MNF) is a regional political party in Mizoram, India. MNF emerged from the Mizo National Famine Front, which was formed by Pu Laldenga to protest against the inaction of the Indian central government towards the fami ...
(MNF) fought for Mizo independence. The
Chin National Army
The Chin National Army ( my, ချင်းအမျိုးသားတပ်မတော်; abbreviated CNA) is a Chin ethnic armed organisation in Myanmar (Burma). It is the armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF), and was founded on ...
(CNF) was formed in 1988. It signed a ceasefire agreement with the Chin State government in 2012. The
Kuki National Army
The Kuki National Army (KNA) is a Kuki insurgent group active in Northeast India and northwest Myanmar. It is the armed wing of the Kuki National Organisation.
History
The Kuki National Army (KNA) was founded on 24 February 1988 with the go ...
(KNA) was also founded in 1988 with the goal of creating Kuki autonomy in Myanmar and India.
Several separatist groups
fighting the Indian government in Northeast India also operate from bases in Myanmar, such as the
Zomi Revolutionary Army
The Zomi Revolutionary Army ( my, ဇိုမီး တော်လှန်ရေး တပ်မတော်; abbreviated ZRA) is an armed Zomi nationalist insurgent group formed in 1997, following an increase in ethnic tensions between the ...
, the
United Liberation Front of Assam
The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Assamese: সংযুক্ত মুক্তি বাহিনী, অসম) is an armed separatist organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an indep ...
(ULFA), and the
National Socialist Council of Nagaland
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is a Naga nationalist separatist group operating mainly in Northeast India, with minor activities in northwest Myanmar (Burma). The main aim of the organisation is to establish a sovereign Naga ...
(NSCN). These groups frequently cross into India via the porous border.
In June 2019, Tatmadaw troops, in coordination with the Indian Army, carried out operations against the NSCN headquarters in
Taga, in the
Naga Self-Administered Zone
The Naga Self-Administered Zone ( my, နာဂကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရဒေသ ), is a self-administered zone in the Naga Hills area of Sagaing Region of Myanmar. Its administrative seat is ...
of Sagaing Region.
Kachin State
![Kachin Independence Army cadets in Laiza (Paul Vrieze-VOA)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Kachin_Independence_Army_cadets_in_Laiza_%28Paul_Vrieze-VOA%29.jpg)
The
Kachin people
The Kachin peoples ( Jingpo: ''Ga Hkyeng'', ; , ), more precisely the Kachin Wunpong (Jingpo: ''Jinghpaw Wunpawng'', "The Kachin Confederation") or simply Wunpong ("The Confederation"), are a confederation of ethnic groups who inhabit the Kachin ...
are a major ethnic minority in Myanmar who mainly inhabit the mountainous northern regions of the
Kachin Hills Kachin or Kakhyen may refer to:
*Kachin State, in northern Myanmar/Burma
* Kachin Hills, northeastern Myanmar
*Kachin peoples, a generalised term for six non-Burman ethno-linguistic groups in Kachin State.
**Kachin people, including the main sub-br ...
in
Kachin State. Kachin regular soldiers previously formed a significant part of the Myanmar Army; however, after Ne Win's regime seized power in 1962, many Kachin soldiers defected from the military and reorganised with already active Kachin insurgents to form the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), under the
Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). Religious tensions have also been a source of conflict, as Kachin people have historically been predominantly Christian, while the majority
Bamar people
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of ...
have been predominantly
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
.
Ceasefire agreements have been signed between the KIA and the government several times; most notably a ceasefire signed in 1994, that lasted for 17 years until June 2011, when government forces attacked KIA positions along the
Taping River
The Taping River, known as Ta Hkaw Hka in Kachin and Daying River () in Chinese, is a river in Yunnan province, China and northern Myanmar (Burma). It is the first tributary of the country's chief river, the Irrawaddy, and the watersheds between ...
, east of
Bhamo
Bhamo ( my, ဗန်းမော်မြို့ ''ban: mau mrui.'', also spelt Banmaw; shn, မၢၼ်ႈမူဝ်ႇ; tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥨᥝᥱ; zh, 新街, Hsinkai) is a city in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, south of the ...
, Kachin State.
As a result of the ceasefire breakdown, Kachin State has faced waves of internal displacement, with over 90,000 internally displaced people spread across over 150 camps or camp-like settings as of April 2017. Many IDP camps are located in non-government controlled areas with severely restricted access. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) estimates that in April and May 2018, over 14,000 people were displaced from fighting between the KIA and the Tatmadaw.
Clashes between the KIA and the Tatmadaw in 2012 resulted in around 2,500 casualties (both civilian and military), 211 of whom were government soldiers. The violence resulted in the displacement of nearly 100,000 civilians and the complete or partial abandonment of 364 villages.
Government forces attacked the Kachin Independence Army's headquarters near the city of
Laiza
Laiza ( my, လိုင်ဇာ ''Laingza'') is a remote mountainous town in the Kachin State, Myanmar. It lies on the border with China, the other side is . Laiza is the capital of the Kachin Independence Organisation since 2005.
History
L ...
on 19 November 2014, killing at least 22 KIA insurgents, according to the government.
N'Ban La
N'Ban La is a Kachin currently resistance leader in Myanmar. He is the chairman of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and a senior commander of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and was formerly the vice chairman of the KIO and the cha ...
became the KIO's chairman and the KIA's second-in-command in January 2018.
Htang Gam Shawng retained his position as the KIA's commander-in-chief.
Kayah State
In 1957, pro-independence groups in Karenni State (present-day
Kayah State
Kayah State ( my, ကယားပြည်နယ်, formerly Karenni State) is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and we ...
) founded the
Karenni National Progressive Party
The Karenni National Progressive Party ( my, ကရင်နီအမျိုးသားတိုးတက်ရေးပါတီ; Abbreviation, abbr. KNPP) is a Karenni people, Karenni political organisation in Kayah State, Myanmar (Burma). I ...
(KNPP). An accompanying armed wing, the
Karenni Army
The Karenni Army ( my, ကရင်နီ တပ်မတော်; abbreviated KA, KnA or KiA) is the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), and operates in eastern Kayah State (also known as Karenni State), Myanmar (Burma ...
, was established shortly after to fight for the self-determination of the
Karenni people
The Karenni ( my, ကရင်နီ, ), also known as the Kayah ( my, ကယားလူမျိုး) or Kayah Li ( Karenni: ), are a Karen people native to the Kayah State of Myanmar (Burma).
According to a 1983 census, the Karenni consis ...
.
[Karenni Army (KA) (Myanmar), GROUPS – ASIA – ACTIVE, Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism, 13 March 2012] The Karenni Army and Tatmadaw have fought in the region ever since, apart from a brief three-month ceasefire in 1995.
Rivals to the KNPP include the leftist
Kayan New Land Party
The Kayan National Party is a political party in Myanmar.
Unlike Kayan New Land Party and other parties which failed to be approved by the Union Election Commission (UEC) in Kayah State, it was allowed to register to contest the election in 2011. ...
(KNLP) and
Karenni National People's Liberation Front
The Karenni National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF) was a communist and Karenni nationalist insurgent group active in Kayah State, Myanmar (Burma). It agreed to become a government-sponsored border guard force on 8 November 2009 although ...
(KNPLF), both of whom signed ceasefires with the government in the 1990s.
The Karenni Army's stated grievances towards the government include the government's exploitation and rapid depletion of the natural resources in the region, the forced sale of farmer's agricultural products for low prices, extortion and corruption within local authorities, forced labour, forced relocation of whole villages and farms, destruction of houses, planting of mines in civilian areas, torture, rape,
extrajudicial killing
An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...
s, burning of villages, expropriation of food supplies and livestock, arrests without charge and exploitation of the poor. The Karenni Army is currently led by General Bee Htoo,
and consists of roughly between 500 and 1,500 troops.
The conflict escalated following the 2021 military coup, with the civilian-led Karenni People's Defence Force (KPDF) opening up a new front in northern Kayah State. After Tatmadaw troops
attacked and burned down several villages in the region, KPDF fighters launched an offensive against the Tatmadaw, seizing and destroying several military outposts.
Kayin State
![KNLA medic treating displaced civilians (Steve Sandford-VOA)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/KNLA_medic_treating_displaced_civilians_%28Steve_Sandford-VOA%29.jpg)
The
Karen people
The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...
of
Kayin State
Kayin State ( my, ကရင်ပြည်နယ်, ; kjp, ဖၠုံခါန်ႋကၞင့်, italics=no; ksw, ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်, ), also known by the endonyms Kawthoolei and Karen State, is a state of Myanmar. The ...
(formerly Karen State) in eastern Myanmar are the third largest ethnic group in Myanmar, consisting of roughly 7% of the country's total population. Karen insurgent groups have fought for independence and self-determination since 1949. In 1949, the
commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw General
Smith Dun
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
, an ethnic Karen, was fired because of the rise of Karen opposition groups, which furthered ethnic tensions. He was replaced by Ne Win, a Bamar
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
who would later rule Myanmar as a military dictator.
The government of Myanmar has been accused of using "
scorched earth" tactics against Karen civilians in the past, including (but not limited to) burning down entire villages, planting
land mine
A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
s, using civilians as slave labour, using civilians as minesweepers and the rape and murder of Karen women.
[Phan, Zoya and Damien Lewis. Undaunted: My Struggle for Freedom and Survival in Burma. New York: Free Press, 2010.] According to a report by legal firm
DLA Piper
DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2021, it had a total revenue of US$3.47 billion, an average profit per equity partner of U ...
, whose report was presented to the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
, these tactics against the Karen can be identified as
ethnic cleansing. The government had however, denied these claims.
The initial aim of the
Karen National Union
The Karen National Union ( my, ကရင် အမျိုးသား အစည်းအရုံး; abbreviated KNU) is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), that claims to represent the Ka ...
(KNU) and its armed wing the
Karen National Liberation Army
The Karen National Liberation Army ( ksw, ကညီဒီကလုာ် တၢ်ထူၣ်ဖျဲး သုးမုၢ်ဒိၣ်, my, ကရင်အမျိုးသား လွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်မတ ...
(KNLA) was to create independent state for the Karen people. However, since 1976 they have instead called for a
federal union
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
with fair Karen representation and the self-determination of the Karen people.
In 1995, the main headquarters and operating bases of the KNU were mostly destroyed or captured by the government, forcing the KNLA to operate from the jungles of Kayin State. Until 1995, the
Thai government
The Government of Thailand, or formally the Royal Thai Government ( Abrv: RTG; th, รัฐบาลไทย, , ), is the unitary government of the Kingdom of Thailand. The country emerged as a modern nation state after the foundation of t ...
supported insurgents across the
Myanmar–Thailand border
The Myanmar–Thailand border is the international border between the territory of Myanmar (formerly ''Burma'') and Thailand. The border is 2,416 km (1,501 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Laos in the north to Andaman Sea coast in ...
, but soon stopped its support due to a new major economic deal with Myanmar.
The KNU signed the
Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), officially the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Ethnic Armed Organisations ( my, တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံး ပစ် ...
(NCA) with the government of Myanmar on 15 October 2015, along with seven other insurgent groups.
However, in March 2018, the government of Myanmar violated the agreement by sending 400 Tatmadaw soldiers into KNU-held territory to build a road connecting two military bases. Armed clashes erupted between the KNU and the
Myanmar Army
The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...
in the Ler Mu Plaw area of
Hpapun District Hpapun District ( Phlone ; my, ဖာပွန်ခရိုင်); or Mutraw District ( ksw, မူထြီကီၢ်ရ့ၣ်) is a district of the Karen State in Myanmar. Area 6.722,5 km2. The principal town is Hpapun. According to 2014 ...
, resulting in the displacement of 2,000 people. On 17 May 2018, the Tatmadaw agreed to "temporarily postpone" their road project and to withdraw troops from the area.
The KNU resumed its fight against the Myanmar government following the 2021 military coup. On 27 April 2021, KNU insurgents
captured a military base on the west bank of the
Salween River
, ''Mae Nam Salawin'' (
, name_etymology =
, image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar
, map ...
, which forms Myanmar's border with Thailand. The Tatmadaw later retaliated with airstrikes on KNU positions. There were no casualties reported by either side.
Mon State
The
Mon people
The Mon ( mnw, ဂကူမည်; my, မွန်လူမျိုး, ; th, มอญ, ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar's Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, the Irrawaddy Delta, and se ...
have sought self-determination since Myanmar gained independence in 1948, initially under the Mon People's Front and from 1962 through the
New Mon State Party (NMSP). The
Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) has been fighting government forces since 1949. It signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015 and has had minor skirmishes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
Rakhine State
Rakhine insurgency
![Rohingya mujahid surrenders (1961)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Rohingya_mujahid_surrenders_%281961%29.jpg)
Insurgent groups of the
Rakhine (formerly Arakanese),
Chin,
and
Rohingya
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
ethnic minorities have fought against the government for self-determination in
Rakhine State
Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region to the east, the Bay of Ben ...
since the early 1950s. The region was a stronghold of the
Red Flag Communist Party until its defeat by the Tatmadaw in 1978. Its successor, the
Communist Party of Arakan
The Communist Party of Arakan (CPA), also known as the Arakanese Communist Party (ACP), was a communist party and armed insurgent group active in Arakan, Burma (present-day Rakhine State, Myanmar). It was founded in 1962 after a faction under t ...
continued to wage an insurgency in Rakhine State until the 1990s.
Two Arakanese communists released after 20-years in prison
'
Ethnic Rakhine insurgent groups, such as the
Arakan Army
The Arakan Army ( my, ရက္ခိုင့်တပ်တော်, Rakhaing Tattaw; abbreviated AA) is an ethnic armed organisation based in Rakhine State (Arakan). Founded on 10 April 2009, the AA is the military wing of the United Lea ...
and
Arakan Liberation Army
The Arakan Liberation Army ( my, ရခိုင်ပြည် လွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်မတော်; abbreviated ALA) is a Rakhine insurgent group in Myanmar (Burma). It is the armed wing of the Arakan Liberation ...
(ALA), continue to fight against the government, though major violence has been rare since political reforms and peace talks. The Arakan Army, founded in 2009, is currently the largest insurgent group in Rakhine State, with around 7,000 fighters.
On 4 January 2019, around 300 Arakan Army insurgents launched pre-dawn attacks on four border police outposts—Kyaung Taung, Nga Myin Taw, Ka Htee La and Kone Myint—in northern
Buthidaung Township
Buthidaung Township ( my, ဘူးသီးတောင်မြို့နယ် ) is a township of Maungdaw District in the Rakhine State of Myanmar (Burma). The principal town and administrative seat is Buthidaung
Buthidaung (, ) is a town i ...
. Thirteen members of the
Border Guard Police
The Border Guard Police ( my, နယ်ခြားစောင့်ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့; abbreviated BGP) are a department of Myanmar's police force specialising in border security. The BGP operate in northern Rakhine State and are espec ...
(BGP) were killed and nine others were injured, while 40 firearms and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were looted. The Arakan Army later stated that it had captured nine BGP personnel and five civilians, and that three of its fighters were also killed in the attacks.
Following the attacks, the Office of the President of Myanmar held a high-level meeting on national security in the capital
Naypyidaw
Naypyidaw, officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw (; ), is the capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's cities, as it is an entirely planned city o ...
on 7 January 2019, and instructed the Defence Ministry to increase troop deployments in the areas that were attacked and to use aircraft if necessary. Subsequent clashes between the
Myanmar Army
The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...
and the Arakan Army were reported in
Maungdaw
Maungdaw (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the western part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of Maungdaw Township and Maungdaw District. Maungdaw is a town of Myanmar and borders Bangladesh. Maungdaw is 16 miles north of But ...
,
Buthidaung
Buthidaung (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of the Buthidaung Township. Buthidaung lies on the west bank of the Mayu river, and experienced severe flooding in June 2010 and ...
,
Kyauktaw
Kyauktaw ( my, ေက်ာက္ေတာ္ၿမိဳ႕ ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar. The famous Mahamuni Buddha image was originally situated near Kyauktaw, in the ruins of the old city of Dhanya ...
,
Rathedaung
Rathedaung ( my, ရသေ့တောင်မြို့) is the administrative town of Rathedaung Township in Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). It is situated beside the Mayu River and is located north of Sittwe. The town is split into four qu ...
and
Ponnagyun Townships, forcing out over 5,000 civilians from their homes, hundreds of whom (mostly Rakhine and
Khami
Khami (also written as ''Khame'', ''Kame'' or ''Kami'') is a ruined city located 22 kilometres west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Butwa of the Torwa dynasty. It is now a national monument, and became a UN ...
) have fled across the border into Bangladesh. Civilian casualties, arbitrary beatings and detentions of ethnic Rakhines, forced seizures of property, and blockage of food aid and medical relief by the Tatmadaw have also been reported.
Rohingya insurgency
Rohingya insurgents have been fighting against local government forces and other insurgent groups in northern
Rakhine State
Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region to the east, the Bay of Ben ...
since 1948, with ongoing
religious violence
Religious violence covers phenomena in which religion is either the subject or the object of violent behavior. All the religions of the world contain narratives, symbols, and metaphors of violence and war. Religious violence is violence th ...
between the predominantly
Muslim Rohingyas and the
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
Rakhines fuelling the conflict.
Following the independence of Myanmar, Rohingya
mujahideen fought against government forces in an attempt to secede and annex Rohingya-inhabited regions to
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...
. Between 1949 and 1954, the Burmese military launched several operations in order to regain control of the region. By the end of the 1950s, the mujahideen had lost most of their momentum and support, and most of their fighters had surrendered by 1961.
Ne Win's military junta turned increasingly hostile towards the Rohingyas. The authorities launched large-scale military operations in order to expel insurgents and so-called "foreigners" from Arakan, such as
Operation Dragon King
Operation Dragon King ( my, နဂါးမင်း စစ်ဆင်ရေး), officially known as Operation Nagamin in English, was a military operation carried in 1978 out by the Tatmadaw and immigration officials in northern Arakan, Bu ...
in 1978 and
Operation Pyi Thaya in 1991
The legal and political rights of the Rohingya people have been an underlying issue during the conflict, with spontaneous bouts of violence, such as the
2012 Rakhine State riots
The 2012 Rakhine State riots were a series of conflicts primarily between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, though by October Muslims of all ethnicities had begun to be targeted. The riots start ...
and the
2013 Myanmar anti-Muslim riots
The 2013 Myanmar anti-Muslim riots were a series of conflicts in various cities throughout central and eastern Myanmar (Burma).
March riots in Meiktila
Tensions between Buddhist and Muslim ethnic groups flared into violent clashes in Meiktila, ...
, periodically occurring as a result. Despite making up the majority of the population in the three northern townships of Rakhine State,
the Rohingyas are frequently the targets of religiously motivated attacks. The
1982 Nationality law did not recognise the Rohingyas as an ethnic group which is native to Myanmar.
As a result, the Rohingyas cannot apply for Burmese citizenship and few laws exist to protect their rights.
![Myanmar police patrolling in Maungdaw](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Myanmar_police_patrolling_in_Maungdaw.jpg)
On 9 October 2016, unidentified insurgents attacked three Burmese border posts along Myanmar's border with Bangladesh, starting a
new armed conflict in northern Rakhine State. According to government officials in the border town of
Maungdaw
Maungdaw (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the western part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of Maungdaw Township and Maungdaw District. Maungdaw is a town of Myanmar and borders Bangladesh. Maungdaw is 16 miles north of But ...
, the attackers looted several dozen firearms and ammunition from the border posts, and they also brandished knives and homemade slingshots that fired metal bolts. The attacks left nine border officers and "several insurgents" dead.
On 11 October 2016, four Tatmadaw soldiers were killed on the third day of fighting.
A newly emerging insurgent group, the
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), formerly known as Harakah al-Yaqin ( "faith movement" in English), is a Rohingya insurgent group active in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. According to a December 2016 report by the International Cri ...
(ARSA), claimed responsibility for the attacks a week later.
During the early hours of 25 August 2017, ARSA insurgents launched coordinated attacks on 24 police posts and the 552nd Light Infantry Battalion army base, killing a dozen people.
In response, the Tatmadaw launched "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State, which critics argued targeted Rohingya civilians rather than insurgents.
["Myanmar accused of laying mines after refugee injuries,"](_blank)
12 September 2017, ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' retrieved 12 September 2017. Quote "Accounts from refugees show the military is also targeting civilians with shootings and wholesale burning of Rohingya villages in an apparent attempt to purge Rakhine state of Muslims."["Hundreds dead in Myanmar as the Rohingya crisis explodes again."](_blank)
10 September 2017, ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' retrieved 12 September 2017 Following the violence, 200,000 civilians remained trapped in the region without adequate access to markets, livelihoods, services and medical care.
Shan State
The
Shan people
The Shan people ( shn, တႆး; , my, ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ), also known as the Tai Long, or Tai Yai are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in th ...
are the largest ethnic group in
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( ...
and the second largest in Myanmar. They were one of several ethnic groups consulted by Aung San during negotiations leading up to the Panglong Agreement, which gave the Shan leaders the option to split from Myanmar a decade after independence if they were unsatisfied with the central government.
This was, however, not honoured by the post-independence government following Aung San's assassination.
Frustrated by a decade of fruitless negotiations, a group of 39 Shan led by Saw Yanda (a Shan from Yunnan, China; also known as Chao Noi, Sao Noi, and Saw Yanna) formed an armed resistance movement on 21 May 1958.
It became known as the ''Noom Suk Harn'' (or ''Noom Seik Harn''), meaning "brave young warriors".
In 1960, the movement suffered an internal split between the "rough and uneducated" Saw Yanda and a group of young intellectuals, and the latter subsequently formed the Shan State Independence Army (SSIA). Aside from the remnants of the ''Noom Suk Harn'' and the SSIA, there was also the Shan National United Front (SNUF), which operated primarily in southern Shan State. The SSIA, the SNUF, and the Kokang Force (a local army consisting of
Kokang Chinese
The Kokang Chinese ( or 果敢族 (''Guǒgǎn zú''); my, ကိုးကန့်လူမျိုး) are Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese living in Kokang, Myanmar, administered as the Kokang Self-Administered Zone.
Etymology
The name Kokang ...
) agreed to merge into the
Shan State Army (SSA) in 1964.
Sao Nang Hearn Kham
Sao Nang Hearn Kham ( my, စောဝ်နန်းဟိန်ခမ်; 26 May 1916 – 17 January 2003) was the Mahadevi of Yawnghwe one of the most important Shan States. Her husband Sao Shwe Thaik was the 23d and last Saopha of Yawnghwe an ...
, the ''Mahadevi'' (queen consort) of Yawnghwe, was elected chairperson of its political wing, the Shan State War Council (SSWC). The SSWC was replaced by the
Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) on 16 August 1971.
In northern Shan State, the SSA came into conflict with the
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is a clandestine communist party in Myanmar (Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country.
Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fought ag ...
(CPB), which had long been active along Burma's border with China. During the 1960s, the Burma Army began the ''Ka Kew Ye'' (KKY) program, which recruited ethnic armies to combat communist insurgents, and in return, they would be permitted to engage in cross-border trade on their own terms. This led to many units of the SSA defecting to the KKY militias. The SSA also worked with opium warlords such as
Lo Hsing Han
Lo Hsing Han or Law Sit Han ( my, လော်စစ်ဟန်, ; ; ca. 1930s – July 6, 2013) was a Burmese businessman and drug trafficker. He later became a major business tycoon across Burma, with financial ties to Singapore. He was an eth ...
and
Khun Sa
Chinese: Chang Chi-fu ()
, other_name = th, จันทร์ จางตระกูล (Chan Changtrakul); Tun Sa; U Htet Aung
, image = Khun Sa (9to12).jpg
, alt =
, caption = Khun Sa at his jungle headquarters ...
. Internal divisions resulted in the SSA fracturing into many factions, and it collapsed in mid-1976. The SSPP later formed the pro-communist
Shan State Army – North (SSA-N) to continue the insurgency. After the CPB suffered an internal mutiny and collapsed in April 1989, the SSA-N signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in exchange for autonomy over the areas it controlled (officially called "Special Region 3 of Shan State"). A splinter group led by
Sai Leun which broke away from the CPB at the same time established the
National Democratic Alliance Army
The National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) is an insurgent group in eastern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). It is the armed wing of the Peace and Solidarity Committee (PSC).
History
The Mong La area had been under the control of several war ...
(NDAA), which controls the
Mong La area (Special Region 4) of Shan State.
In the 1960s,
Khun Sa
Chinese: Chang Chi-fu ()
, other_name = th, จันทร์ จางตระกูล (Chan Changtrakul); Tun Sa; U Htet Aung
, image = Khun Sa (9to12).jpg
, alt =
, caption = Khun Sa at his jungle headquarters ...
, a KKY militia leader, was permitted by the Burmese government to grow and trade opium in return for fighting Shan and communists insurgents. He gradually became one of the most powerful insurgent leaders in Shan State. Khun Sa was captured by the Tatmadaw after plotting with the SSA in 1969, but was later released to Thailand, where he built an army near the Burmese border and became the dominant opium warlord in the Golden Triangle. After being expelled by the Thai Army in 1982, Khun Sa returned to Burma and formed the
Mong Tai Army
The Mong Tai Army ( my, မိုင်းတိုင်းတပ်မတော်; sometimes transcribed Muang Tai Army; abbreviated MTA), was an insurgent group consisting of soldiers from the Shan minority in Myanmar, founded in 1985 by ...
(MTA) in 1985. In the 1990s, the MTA became the dominant Shan fighting force with peak strength of 20,000 soldiers. In 1991, Khun Sa declared the creation of an independent Shan State, with himself as president. However, some Shan nationalists in the MTA disagreed with his leadership and formed a rival Shan organisation, the
Shan State National Army (SSNA). The Mong Tai Army was quickly disbanded after the mass desertion, and Khun Sa himself surrendered to the government in 1996. He was allowed to retire in Yangon and keep his large fortune.
Refusing to surrender with Khun Sa and the MTA, Lieutenant General
Yawd Serk of the
Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA) led 800 soldiers under his command to central Shan State and established the
Shan State Army – South
The Shan State Army – South ( shn, တပ်ႉသိုၵ်းၸိုင်ႈတႆး – ပွတ်းၸၢၼ်း; abbreviated SSA-S), also known simply as the Shan State Army, is the armed wing of the Restoration Council of Sh ...
(SSA-S) on 26 January 1996. He then recruited roughly a thousand more soldiers before returning to southern Shan State to establish the group's headquarters in
Loi Tai Leng. The SSA-S has since become one of the largest Shan insurgent groups in Myanmar, and has around 8,000 soldiers as of 2016.
Yawd Serk lead the group until his retirement on 2 February 2014. Its political wing is the
Restoration Council of Shan State. The SSA-S maintains a number of bases along the
Myanmar–Thailand border
The Myanmar–Thailand border is the international border between the territory of Myanmar (formerly ''Burma'') and Thailand. The border is 2,416 km (1,501 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Laos in the north to Andaman Sea coast in ...
, and signed a ceasefire agreement with the government on 2 December 2011.
The Tatmadaw launched a military offensive named Operation Perseverance () against insurgents in Shan State in 2011. During the offensive, the Tatmadaw captured territory from the NDAA and the SSA-N, with the latter being involved in most of the fighting. While this operation was officially a response to the groups' rejections of the junta's "One Nation, One Army" policy, researchers have linked it to the military's interests in the
jade trade.
In October 2015, the Tatmadaw launched a military offensive to seize territory granted to the SSA-N under a previous ceasefire. The Tatmadaw used heavy artillery and airstrikes, displacing thousands of civilians.
Other ethnic armed groups in the region include the
Lahu Democratic Union, the
Ta'ang National Liberation Army
The Ta'ang National Liberation Army ( my, တအောင်း အမျိုးသား လွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်မတော်; abbreviated TNLA) in Myanmar (Burma), is the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberati ...
, the
Wa National Army and the
Pa-O National Liberation Army, of varying sizes and affiliations.
Kokang
From the 1960s to 1989, the Kokang area in northern Shan state was controlled by the Communist Party of Burma, and after the party's armed wing disbanded in 1989 it became a special region of Myanmar under the control of the
Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army
, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg
, caption = Flag of the MNDAA
, active= – present
, leader = Peng Daxun
, ideology = Kokang nationalism Separatism
, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party ...
(MNDAA). The MNDAA is a
Kokang
Kokang ( my, ကိုးကန့်; ) is a region in Myanmar (Burma). It is located in the northern part of Shan State, with the Salween River to its west, and sharing a border with China's Yunnan Province to the east. Its total land area i ...
insurgent group active in the
Kokang Self-Administered Zone
The Kokang Self-Administered Zone ( my, ကိုးကန့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရ ဒေသ ), as stipulated by the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, is a self-administered zone in norther ...
in northern Shan State. The group signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in 1989, the same year it was founded, which lasted for two decades
until 2009, when government troops entered MNDAA territory in an attempt to stop the flow of drugs through the area.
Violence erupted again
in 2015, when the MNDAA attempted to retake territory it had lost in 2009.
The MNDAA clashed with government troops once again in 2017.
The MNDAA resumed its fight against the Tatmadaw in response to the 2021 coup d'état. The MNDAA and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) have carried out several joint attacks against the Tatmadaw in Shan State.
Wa State
![UWSA soldiers stand at attention during ceremonies](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/UWSA_soldiers_stand_at_attention_during_ceremonies.jpg)
Following the CPB's internal mutiny on 16 April 1989, ethnic
Wa cadres under the command of
Bao Youxiang announced their split from the party and the founding of the
United Wa State Party
The United Wa State Party (UWSP) is the ruling party of Wa State, an autonomous region in northern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). It was founded on 3 November 1989 as a merger between the Burma National United Party (BNUP) and several smaller, no ...
and
United Wa State Army
The United Wa State Army (; my, ဝပြည် သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်ရေး တပ်မတော်, ), abbreviated as the UWSA or the UWS Army, is the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), the ''de facto' ...
. The UWSA signed a ceasefire agreement with the
then-ruling military junta in May 1989 and has since governed parts of Shan State as the autonomous
Wa State
Wa State, my, ဝပြည်နယ် is an autonomous self-governing polity in Myanmar (Burma). It is ''de facto'' independent from the rest of the country and has its own political system, administrative divisions and army.29 December 2 ...
. The Burmese government has accused their Chinese counterpart of heavily supporting Wa State and the UWSA.
Foreign support
China
The People's Republic of China has long been accused of having a multifaceted role in the conflict, given its close relations with both the Myanmar government and insurgent groups active along the
China–Myanmar border
The China–Myanmar border is the international border between the territory of the People's Republic of China and Myanmar (formerly ''Burma''). The border is 2,129 km (1,323 mi) in length and run from the tripoint with India in the nor ...
.
China openly supported the
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is a clandestine communist party in Myanmar (Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country.
Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fought ag ...
(CPB) and its pursuit of
Mao Zedong Thought during the 1960s and 1970s.
[: "The CPB developed into the single strongest and most powerful of Burma's numerous guerrilla groups with an approximate strength of 10,000–14,000 soldiers, fully armed and equipped by Beijing."] After the CPB's armed wing agreed to disarm in 1988, China was accused by Myanmar of continuing to support insurgent groups operating along its border, such as the
United Wa State Army
The United Wa State Army (; my, ဝပြည် သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်ရေး တပ်မတော်, ), abbreviated as the UWSA or the UWS Army, is the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), the ''de facto' ...
and
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army
, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg
, caption = Flag of the MNDAA
, active= – present
, leader = Peng Daxun
, ideology = Kokang nationalism Separatism
, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party ...
, the latter enjoying closer ties to China due to a common
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
ethnic background.
In 2016, China pledged to support Myanmar's peace process by encouraging China-friendly insurgent groups to attend peace talks with the Burmese government and by sending more soldiers to secure its border with Myanmar.
China also offered $3 million
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
to fund the negotiations. However, the Burmese government has expressed suspicion over China's involvement in the peace process, due to China's alleged links to the
Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
and the United Wa State Army.
India
India and Myanmar share a strategic military relationship due to the overlapping
insurgency in Northeast India
The Insurgency in Northeast India involves multiple armed separatist factions operating in some of India's Northeast India, northeastern states, which are connected to the rest of India by the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land as narrow as ...
.
India has provided Myanmar's military with training, weapons, and tactical equipment. The two countries' armies have conducted joint operations against insurgents at their border since the 1990s. Myanmar has also taken an active role in finding and arresting insurgents that fled from northeast India; in May 2020 Myanmar handed over 22 insurgents, included several top commanders, to Indian authorities. Similarly, India has been one of the few countries to forcefully repatriate Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar despite global outcry.
Pakistan
From 1948 to 1950, Pakistan sent aid to
mujahideen in northern Arakan (present-day Rakhine State). In 1950, the Pakistani government warned their Burmese counterparts about their treatment of Muslims. In response, Burmese Prime Minister
U Nu
Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pr ...
immediately sent a Muslim diplomat,
Pe Khin, to negotiate a
memorandum of understanding. Pakistan agreed to cease aid to the mujahideen and arrest members of the group. In 1954, mujahid leader Mir Kassem was arrested by Pakistani authorities, and many of his followers later surrendered to the Burmese government.
[U Nu, U Nu: Saturday's Son, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press) 1975, p. 272.]
The
International Crisis Group reported on 14 December 2016 that in interviews with the
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), formerly known as Harakah al-Yaqin ( "faith movement" in English), is a Rohingya insurgent group active in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. According to a December 2016 report by the International Cri ...
(ARSA), its leaders claimed to have links to private donors in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The ICG also released unconfirmed reports that Rohingya villagers had been "secretly trained" by Afghan and Pakistani fighters.
In September 2017, Bangladeshi sources stated that the possibility of cooperation between Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...
(ISI) and ARSA was "extremely high".
Russia
In November 2013, delegations from the Burmese and Russian armed forces met in Naypyidaw and agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two, particularly in regards to the exchange of military technology. Myanmar and Russia signed a military cooperation agreement in June 2016, with Russia promising more arms and training for Myanmar's military.
Thailand
Thailand had been a vocal supporter of various insurgent groups in Myanmar, condemning actions done by the then ruling military juntas and allowing weapons and ammunition to be smuggled through its border through lax enforcement. However, in 1995, the Thai government secured its border with Myanmar and stopped all logistical support going through Thailand after they signed a major economic deal with Myanmar.
United States
The U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) began aiding
Kuomintang soldiers that fled to Myanmar from China following the advance of
Chinese communist forces into
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
in 1951. This included ''Operation Paper'', which involved supplying them with non-lethal aid via Thailand until 1953, when they airlifted 7,000 soldiers to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and ended the operation.
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
became the primary arms supplier for the Burmese government beginning in 1952, when the Burmese reached out to
Belgrade due to the slow and uneasy support from the United States and the United Kingdom. The two nations became very close as a result, and the
Yugoslav National Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
sent advisors to assist on the frontlines. The sudden strong relationship between Burma and Yugoslavia prompted concern among the Americans, who worried the Yugoslav support would strengthen Marxist ideology in the government. Ne Win, who previously sought support solely from the West, was impressed with the speed of the Burmese–Yugoslav cooperation, and travelled to Belgrade in 1953.
[NARA, RG 59, 690B.9321/12-2253, Memorandum of Conversation between General Ne Win and the Army and Air Attachés of the U.S. Embassy in Burma, December 22nd 1953.]
Arms suppliers
As of 2019, Myanmar's military is supplied by fourteen
arms companies from seven countries: China, India, Israel, North Korea, the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine.
Despite Serbia signing a non-binding UN resolution calling for the cessation of arms sales to Myanmar following the
2021 Myanmar coup d'état
A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then ves ...
, hundreds of Serbian-made 80 mm rockets were sent from Belgarde to Yangon less than a week after the coup.
Vietnam has also been a vocal supporter of modernisation efforts by Myanmar's military, providing them with ammunition and military hardware. Burmese military officials have also toured Vietnam to receive military advice from their counterparts in the
People's Army of Vietnam.
Foreign fighters
Dave Everett was a member of the Australian
Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957, it was modelled on the British SAS sharing the motto, "Who Dares Wins". The re ...
before leaving in 1986 and joining the Karen National Liberation Army as a mercenary. Everett fought alongside the KNLA under the alias "Steve" and trained insurgents, helping them improve their marksmanship and teaching them how to use
claymore anti-personnel mines. To fund his time with the KNLA, Everett perpetrated several robberies in Australia with the help of accomplices and took piloting lessons so he could smuggle weapons into Myanmar. Everett returned to Australia a year later in 1987.
Former members of the
British special forces
The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forc ...
,
Australian special forces,
Green berets
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...
,
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
, and Russian
Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .)
Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the S ...
have also been reported fighting alongside insurgents as recently as 2012.
Ceasefire attempts
A number of insurgent groups have negotiated ceasefires and peace agreements with successive governments, but most have since fallen apart.
Under the new constitutional reforms in 2011, state level and union level ceasefire agreements were made with a number of insurgent groups. Fourteen of the 17 largest rebel factions signed a ceasefire agreement with the new reformed government. All of the 14 signatories wanted negotiations in accordance with the
Panglong Agreement
The Panglong Agreement ( my, ပင်လုံစာချုပ် ) was reached in Panglong, Southern Shan State, between the Burmese government under Aung San and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin peoples on 12 February 1947. Aung Zan Wai, Pe ...
of 1947, which granted self-determination, a federal system of government (meaning regional autonomy), religious freedom and ethnic minority rights. However, the new constitution, only had a few clauses dedicated to minority rights, and therefore, the government discussed with rebel factions using the new constitution for reference, rather than the Panglong Agreement. There was no inclusive plan or body that represented all the factions, and as a result, in resent, the KNU backed out of the conference and complained the lack of independence for each party within the ethnic bloc.
[Nai, A. (3 September 2014). Democratic Voice of Burma: UNFC opens 2 top positions for KNU. Retrieved 10 November 2014.] However, most of the negotiations between the State Peace Deal Commission and rebel factions were formal and peaceful.
On 31 March 2015, a draft of the
Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), officially the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Ethnic Armed Organisations ( my, တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံး ပစ် ...
(NCA) was finalised between representatives from 15 different insurgent groups (all part of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team or NCCT) and the government of Myanmar. However, only eight of the 15 insurgent groups signed the final agreement on 15 October 2015.
The signing was witnessed by observers and delegates from the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and the United States.
Two other insurgent groups later joined the agreement on 13 February 2018.
The
Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong was held from 31 August to 4 September 2016 with several different organisations as representatives, in an attempt to mediate between the government and different insurgent groups. Talks ended without any agreement being reached. The name of the conference was a reference to the original
Panglong Conference
The Panglong Conference ( my, ပင်လုံညီလာခံ), held in February 1947, was a historic meeting that took place at Panglong in the Shan States in Burma between the Shan, Kachin and Chin ethnic minority leaders and Aung San, ...
held during
British rule
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...
in 1947, which was negotiated between
Aung San
Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947) was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his goa ...
and ethnic leaders.
Human rights violations
The
government of Myanmar
Myanmar ( also known as Burma) operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests.
Po ...
has been accused of using "
scorched earth" tactics against civilians, most notably in
Kayin State
Kayin State ( my, ကရင်ပြည်နယ်, ; kjp, ဖၠုံခါန်ႋကၞင့်, italics=no; ksw, ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်, ), also known by the endonyms Kawthoolei and Karen State, is a state of Myanmar. The ...
. The accusations included burning down entire villages, planting
landmines, using civilians as slave labour, using civilians as minesweepers and the rape and murder of Karen women.
According to a report by legal firm
DLA Piper
DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2021, it had a total revenue of US$3.47 billion, an average profit per equity partner of U ...
, whose report was presented to the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
, these tactics against the Karen have been identified as
ethnic cleansing.
Both sides have been accused of using
landmines, which have caused hundreds of accidental civilian injuries and deaths. The KNU has been accused of planting landmines in rural areas, most of which have not been disarmed. The KNU claims that landmines are vital for repelling government troops because they "discourage
he Tatmadawfrom attacking civilians". However, the majority of those who fall victim to landmines planted by the KNU are local civilians and not government soldiers. Victims of landmines must travel to the Myanmar–Thailand border to seek treatment, as local hospitals and facilities lack proper equipment and funding.
Both sides have also been accused of using thousands of
child soldiers, despite the fact that the government of Myanmar and seven insurgent groups signed an agreement with
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
in 2012, promising not to exploit children for military and political gains. The
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
(ILO) has accused both sides of continuing to use child soldiers in violation of the agreement. According to the ILO, the Tatmadaw has discharged hundreds of child soldiers since 2012; however, the ILO also estimated that at least 340 child soldiers had been recruited by the Tatmadaw between 2013 and 2014. Meanwhile, insurgent groups such as the MNDAA, SSA-S, and TNLA have reportedly
press-ganged minors into their armies.
One of the most notable cases in which child soldiers were used in Myanmar was that of twins
Johnny and Luther Htoo, the leaders of
God's Army, a former rebel faction. When God's Army was formed in 1997, the pair were just ten-years-old.
On 25 July 2022, the
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
reported that Myanmar's military junta sentenced four men to death after closed trials that fell far short of international standards. The men put to death were
Phyo Zeya Thaw,
Kyaw Min Yu
Kyaw Min Yu ( my, ကျော်မင်းယု; also known as Ko Jimmy; 13 February 1969 – 23 July 2022) was a Burmese writer, political prisoner, and a member of the 88 Generation Students Group. He was executed in July 2022 after being ...
, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. These executions followed grossly unjust and politically motivated military trials.
Casualties and displacement of civilians
![Mae La refugee camp2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Mae_La_refugee_camp2.jpg)
An estimated 130,000 people died in the conflict from 1948 to 2011.
The
Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is a non-governmental organization specializing in disaggregated conflict data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping. ACLED codes the dates, actors, locations, fatalities, and types of all ...
(ACLED) has recorded over 30,000 deaths since 2011.
The conflict has also resulted in the displacement of a large number of civilians, many of whom have fled to neighbouring countries such as Thailand, China, India, and Bangladesh. The persecution of
Rohingya people
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
and other ethnic minorities after the 1962 coup led to the expulsion of nearly 300,000 people. The UN estimated that between 1996 and 2006, around 1 million people were
internally displaced
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
inside Myanmar, over 230,000 of whom remain displaced in the southeast of the country, and 128,000 refugees lived in temporary shelters on the Myanmar–Thailand border.
[Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, 12 February 2007] In August 2007, approximately 160,000 refugees fled to nine refugee camps along the Myanmar–Thailand border and the Thai border provinces of
Chiang Mai and
Ratchaburi
Ratchaburi ( th, ราชบุรี, ) or Rajburi, Rat Buri) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in western Thailand, capital of Ratchaburi Province.
Ratchaburi town covers the entire ''tambon'' Na Mueang (หน้าเมือง) of Mueang ...
. Approximately 62% of the refugee population consisted of displaced Karen people. Humanitarian organisations such as
Doctors Without Borders
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
have since sent workers and medical support to the refugees. , an estimated 600,000 to 1 million people remain internally displaced in Myanmar.
Over the course of the conflict, government officials in Myanmar have been accused of forcefully removing civilians living in conflict areas and confiscating their property, to repurpose them
for commercial, industrial, and military projects.
[Ethnic Nationalities of Burma. (n.d.). Retrieved 23 November 2014](_blank)
/ref>
In Rakhine State, there were around 75,000 internally displaced Rohingyas
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
in 2012, according to Refugee International. UNICEF has reported that living conditions in Rohingya refugee camps in Rakhine State are "wholly inadequate" and lacks access to basic services. In October 2017, there were an estimated 947,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh mostly refer to Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) from Myanmar who are living in Bangladesh. The Rohingya people have experienced ethnic and religious persecution in Myanmar for decades. Hundreds of th ...
. The Rohingya people have been described by the United Nations as "among the world's least wanted" and "one of the world's most persecuted minorities."
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reports a total of 401,000 people internally displaced in Myanmar as of 2018, owing both to man-made and natural disasters as well as conflict and violence. This figure includes IDPs across the country, with 131,000 in Rakhine State, 97,000 in Kachin State, 50,000 in Kayin State, 40,000 in Tanintharyi Region, 27,000 in Karenni State, 22,000 in Bago Region, 18,000 in Mon State, 15,000 in Shan State and 1,300 in Chin State. Of these total displacements, IDMC estimates that approximately 42,000 people were newly displaced in 2018 by conflict and violence. Compared to 2017, the rate of new displacements was lower in Rakhine State but higher in Kachin State and northern Shan State, which together saw approximately 36,000 people displaced.
The Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster (CCCM) estimated in 2019 that at least 941,000 people in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance, with over 128,000 people living in IDP camps in Rakhine State and over 105,000 people displaced in Kachin State and northern Shan State. While many displacements last only for the duration of active fighting, protracted displacement is evidenced by camps in Kachin State, Rakhine State, and Shan State. Living situations in these camps are often overcrowded with inadequate shelter, sanitation, healthcare, food, and education. In total, approximately 35 per cent of IDPs in Myanmar are estimated to live in non-government controlled areas that have limited if not wholly restricted access as of November 2019, complicating relief efforts both for international and local organisations.
International responses
Since 1991, the UN General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...
has adopted twenty-five different resolutions regarding Myanmar's government, condemning previous military juntas for their systematic violations of human rights and lack of political freedom. In 2009 they urged the then ruling junta to take urgent measures to end violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws in the country.
Reports of human rights abuses committed by the military and local paramilitaries prompted the UN Human Rights Council to launch an independent international fact-finding mission in March 2017, with which Myanmar's government failed to cooperate. The mission's report (A/HRC/39/64) released in September 2018 highlighted "clear patterns" of serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in Kachin State, Rakhine State, and Shan State since 2011. The Tatmadaw are accused of deliberate and systematic targeting of civilians, sexual violence, discriminatory rhetoric against minorities, and impunity for its soldiers.
Eyewitness testimony alleged that in Rakhine State, "clearance operations" by the Tatmadaw amounted to planned and deliberate mass killings in at least 54 locations. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of Rohingya women and girls were reported to have been raped, including in mass gang rapes, and at least 392 Rohingya villages were burned to the ground. The report also highlighted the conviction of Wa Lone
Wa Lone ( my, ဝလုံး; born 1986) is a Reuters journalist and children's author who, with fellow reporter Kyaw Soe Oo, was arrested on 12 December 2017 in Myanmar because of their investigation into the Inn Din massacre. A police witn ...
and Kyaw Soe Oo
Kyaw Soe Oo ( my, ကျော်စိုးဦး) is a Myanmar Reuters journalist who, with fellow reporter Wa Lone, was arrested on 12 December 2017 in Myanmar because of their investigation into the Inn Din massacre. A police witness testif ...
, two Reuters reporters who had exposed the military's extrajudicial killing of ten Rohingya men and were subsequently imprisoned; the journalists have since been released and awarded a 2019 Pulitzer Prize for their reporting.
In addition to violence against Rohingya communities, the report noted Tatamadaw abuses against ethnic Rakhine, including forced labour, sexual violence, forced evictions, and killings. It also highlighted crimes committed by insurgent groups in Kachin State, Rakhine State, and Shan State, including arson, extortion, destruction of property, forced labour, rape, murder, and forced disappearances. The mission called for an investigation into and the prosecution of military leaders, in particular commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
Min Aung Hlaing ( my, မင်းအောင်လှိုင် abbreviated: MAL ; born 3 July 1956) also known as Alaungsithu is a Burmese politician and army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Coun ...
, in the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
(ICC) for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
filed a lawsuit against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
on 11 November 2019. Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country's military generals against accusations of genocide in public hearings in December 2019.
See also
* Freedom of religion in Myanmar
Myanmar has been under the rule of repressive authoritarian military regimes since 1962. After the 1974 Socialist constitution was suspended in 1988, constitutional protection of religious freedom has not existed, after the bloody suppression o ...
* History of Myanmar
The history of Myanmar (also known as Burma; my, မြန်မာ့သမိုင်း) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest inhabitants of recorded history w ...
* List of ethnic groups in Myanmar
Myanmar (also known as Burma) is an ethnically diverse nation with 135 distinct ethnic groups officially recognised by the Burmese Government. These are grouped into eight "major national ethnic races":
# Bamar
# Chin
# Kachin
# Karen
# K ...
* Opium production in Myanmar
* Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar
There is a history of persecution of Muslims in Myanmar that continues to the present day. Myanmar is a Buddhist majority country, with significant Christian and Muslim minorities. While Muslims served in the government of Prime Minister U Nu ( ...
* Politics of Myanmar
Myanmar (Names of Myanmar, also known as Burma) operates ''de jure'' as a unitary state, unitary List of countries by system of government#Assembly-independent republican systems, assembly-independent republic under its 2008 Constitution of My ...
* Religion in Myanmar
Myanmar (Burma) is a Buddhist majority country with a significant minority population residing in the country. Section 361 of the Constitution states that "The Union recognizes the special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the grea ...
Notes
External links
International Institute for Strategic Studies – Myanmar Conflict Map
References
Citations
Sources
Print
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Academic publications
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Reports
*
{{Post-Cold War Asian conflicts
2010s civil wars
20th-century conflicts
21st-century conflicts
History of Myanmar
Politics of Myanmar
Wars involving Myanmar
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
Revolution-based civil wars
Ethnicity-based civil wars
Communism-based civil wars
Coup-based civil wars
Religion-based civil wars
Separatist rebellion-based civil wars
Civil wars post-1945
Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Asia
Proxy wars
Separatism in Myanmar