, logo = Flag of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.svg , caption = Flag of the MNDAA , active= – present , leader = Peng Daxun , ideology = Kokang nationalism

Separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

, partof = Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party , predecessor = Communist Party of Burma , successor = Mongko Region Defence Army (split in 1995) , headquarters = , area =

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 northern ...

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 C. Wells, Joh ...

, size = 10,000 , allies = Northern Alliance * Arakan Army * Kachin Independence Army * Ta'ang National Liberation Army Other allies * People's Defence Force * Karenni Nationalities Defence Force , opponents = * Tatmadaw * Myanmar Police Force

Union of Myanmar The State Peace and Development Council ( my, နိုင်ငံတော် အေးချမ်းသာယာရေး နှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေး ကောင်စီ ; abbreviated SPDC or , ) was the offi ...

(until 2011) , battles = Internal conflict in Myanmar *

2009 Kokang incident The Kokang incident was a violent series of skirmishes that broke out in August 2009 in Kokang in Myanmar's northern Shan State. Several clashes between the Burmese military junta forces (including the Myanmar Armed Forces, also known as Tatma ...

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 take ...

* Muse offensive * Myanmar civil war (2021–present) , website = The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) is an armed

resistance group A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

in the Kokang region,

(Burma). The army has existed since 1989, having been the first one to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government. The ceasefire lasted for about two decades.

History

The group was formed on 12 March 1989, after the local Communist Party of Burma leader, Pheung Kya-shin (also spelt Peng Jia Sheng or Phone Kyar Shin), dissatisfied with the communist government, broke away and formed the MNDAA.South, Ashley (2008). ''Ethnic politics in Burma: states of conflict.'' Taylor & Francis. p. 140. . Along with his brother, Peng Jiafu, they became the new unit in Kokang.Rotberg, Robert (1998). ''Burma: prospects for a democratic future.'' Brookings Institution Press. p. 169. The strength of the army is between 1,500 and 2,000 men. The rebels soon became the first group to agree to a ceasefire with the government troops. Thus the Burmese government refers to the Kokang region controlled by the MNDAA as " Shan State Special Region 1", indicating the MNDAA was the first group in the area of Shan State to sign a ceasefire agreement. After the ceasefire, the area underwent an economic boom, with both the MNDAA and regional

Myanmar Armed Forces 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 ...

(Tatmadaw) troops profiting from increased

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

harvests and

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

-refining. The area also produces

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

.Shanty, Frank; Mishra, Patit Paban (2007). ''Organized crime: from trafficking to terrorism.'' ABC-CLIO. p. 70. The MNDAA and other

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

groups control the cultivation areas, making them an easy target for

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

and organised crime groups. The

Peace Myanmar Group The Peace Myanmar Group ( my, ပိ(စ်) မြန်မာ ဂရု(ပ်)ကုမ္ပဏီ, also known as PMG), is a leading Myanmar corporation in distribution, alcoholic beverages and bottled drinking water. The company has been in ...

allegedly launders and reinvests MNDAA's drug profits into the legal economy.

2009 Kokang conflict

In August 2009, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army became involved in a violent conflict with the Myanmar Armed Forces. This was the largest outbreak of fighting between ethnic armies and government troops since the signing of the ceasefire 20 years earlier. As a result of the conflict, the MNDAA lost control of the

, and as many as 30,000

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s fled to Yunnan province in neighbouring

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

2015 offensive

On 9 February 2015 the MNDAA tried to retake the area, clashing with Burmese government forces in Laukkai. The skirmishes left a total of 47 Government soldiers dead and 73 wounded. After several months of intense conflict, Kokang insurgents had failed to capture Laukkai. Following the incident, the government of China was accused of giving military assistance to the ethnic Kokang soldiers.

2017 clashes

On 6 March 2017, MNDAA insurgents attacked police and military posts in Laukkai, resulting in the deaths of 30 people.

2021 post-coup resistance

Clashes with the Tatmadaw resumed after the military coup, with MNDAA alongside its allies, AA and Ta'ang National Liberation Army, attacking a police station south of Lashio, killing at least 14 police officers and burning the station to the ground. MNDAA and TNLA further launched attacks in multiple locations in Northern Shan State on 4 and 5 May 2021, inflicting heavy casualties on the Myanmar military.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Insurgent groups in Myanmar Rebel groups in Myanmar Paramilitary organisations based in Myanmar Kokang 1989 establishments in Myanmar