The Ta'ang National Liberation Army ( my, တအောင်း အမျိုးသား လွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်မတော်;

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

TNLA) 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 C. Wells, Joh ...

(Burma), is the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF). The TNLA is known for their opposition to drug trade, conducting operations where they actively destroy poppy fields, heroin refineries and

meth lab A rolling meth lab is a transportable laboratory that is used to illegally produce methamphetamine.Staff writerMethamphetamine, meth-lab assessment and clean-up" ''Forensic Applications Consulting Technologies Inc.'' Retrieved on 2009-02-14. Ro ...

s. The TNLA claims that they arrest opium smugglers regularly and the narcotics seized are publicly burned on special occasions to deter drug trade.

History

The TNLA was originally founded as the Palaung State Liberation Organization/Army (PSLO/A), which signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in 1991 and disarmed in 2005. After the dissolution of the PSLO/A, Ta'ang (Palaung) leaders Tar Aik Bong and Tar Bone Kyaw founded the TNLA alongside the PSLF to continue fighting for the self-determination of the

Ta'ang people The Palaung ( my, ပလောင် လူမျိုး ; Thai: ปะหล่อง, also written as Benglong Palong) or Ta'ang are a Mon–Khmer ethnic minority found in Shan State of Burma, Yunnan Province of China and Northern Thailand. I ...

. The TNLA is presently allied with 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 ...

and the Shan State Army - North, and have been conducting operations alongside them in northern

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...

. Following the 2010 general election and constitutional reforms in 2011, the government created the

Pa Laung Self-Administered Zone The Palaung Self-Administered Zone ( my, ပလောင် ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရ ဒေသ ) is a self-administered zone consisting of two townships in Shan State: It was created as a separate ...

in northern Shan State as a special self-administration zone for the Ta'ang people. The region is one of the most underdeveloped in the country, with few schools and hospitals. Clashes with

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 ...

resumed after the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

, with TNLA alongside its allies, AA and

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 ...

, attacking a police station south of

Lashio Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hills, is located ...

, killing at least 14 police officers and burning the station to the ground. TNLA and MNDAA further launched attacks in multiple locations in Northern Shan State on 4 and 5 May 2021, inflicting heavy casualties on the Myanmar military. Combined forces of TNLA and SSPP clashed with

RCSS RCSS may refer to: * Real Canadian Superstore * Restoration Council of Shan State * Taipei Songshan Airport, by ICAO code *Rajagiri College of Social Sciences Rajagiri College of Social Sciences is an autonomous higher educational institution l ...

in March and April 2021, injuring several civilians and displacing thousands. Tar Bone Kyaw, the second-in-command of TNLA, voiced his support for 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 nati ...

formed in opposition to the military junta.

Abductions

On October 17, 2020, TNLA abducted a local woman from

Mogok Mogok (, ; Shan: , ) is a town in the Thabeikkyin District of Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located north of Mandalay and north-east of Shwebo. History Mogok is believed to have been founded in 1217 by three lost Shan hunters who discovered r ...

and demanded 60 millions of kyats and beaten until ransoms were payoff. On December 5, 2020, also in

, another local man was also abducted by TNLA.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ta'ang National Liberation Army Paramilitary organisations based in Myanmar Rebel groups in Myanmar Guerrilla organizations