The New Democratic Army – Kachin (;

abbreviated An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

NDA-K), officially known as the Kachin Border Guard Force, is an armed insurgent group that operated in

Kachin State Kachin State (; Jingpho language, Kachin: ) is the northernmost administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet and Yunnan, respectively), Shan State to the sou ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. After signing a ceasefire agreement with the

military of Myanmar The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is 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 ...

in 1989, it was subsequently converted into a pro-Tatmadaw militia, eventually officially being converted into a

Border Guard Force Border Guard Forces (; abbreviated BGF) are subdivisions of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) consisting of former insurgent groups in Myanmar under the instruction of Regional Military Commands. The government announced its plan to create Bor ...

in November 2009.Global Security – Kachin
/ref>

History

The NDA-K was founded in 1989 by former Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) officers Zahkung Ting Ying (a.k.a. S'Khon Tein Yein), Layawk Zelum, and Ying Zelum, when they led a communist faction of 700 soldiers that split from the KIO due to its political and ethnic differences. The KIO was led by members of the Jingpo subgroup, while the NDA-K is led by members of the Lacid subgroup. In the same year, the group agreed to a ceasefire with the government, and it ''de facto'' operated under the

Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is 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 ...

's command as a "special regional task force". The group received a budget, rations, and supplies from the government. Additionally, 600 soldiers were paid by the government as part of the

Myanmar Police Force The Myanmar Police Force (), formerly the People's Police Force (), is the law enforcement agency of Myanmar. It was established in 1964 as an independent department under the Ministry of Home Affairs. History The Police Force in Myanmar h ...

. In November 2009, the group became one of the first insurgent groups under a ceasefire agreement to convert into a "border guard force". Some members have since joined the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP) to contest in the 2010 general election.

Myanmar civil war (2021 - present)

On 15 October 2024, as part of wider Operation 0307, the

Kachin Independence Army The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: ''Wunpawng Mungdan Shanglawt Hpyen Dap''; ) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), a political group of ethnic Kachins in Northern Myanmar ...

(KIA) captured BGF Battalion 1002 from the NDA-K following a week of fighting. It was one of three BGF Battalions held by the NDA-K. On 21 October, the KIA captured the town of

Pang War Pang War ( Burmese: ပန်ဝါ, alternatively spelt Pangwa or Pang Wah) is a town in Chipwi Township, Myitkyina District, Kachin State, Northeastern Myanmar. The town lies along the China–Myanmar border and serves as a border crossing betwee ...

from the NDA-K. On 22 October, the KIA captured another BGF Battalion, Battalion 1003, near Kanpaikti, leaving only one Battalion left, Battalion 1001. On 23 October, the KIA sealed off the home of NDA-K leader Zahkung Ting Ying in Pang War. Attempts to locate him in Pang War were unsuccessful. On 31 October, KIA and

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

forces capture the last BGF Battalion 1001 HQ near Phimaw, Myitkyina District. NDA-K and allied Junta troops then fled to the Chinese border town of Ganfai. On 20 November, the KIA captured Kanpaikti, the final stronghold of the BGF. The town's capture leaves only the city of Muse as the last border crossing along the China/Myanmar border under Junta control. The KIA's victory at Kanpaikti has rendered the NDA-K virtually completely defeated.

Splinter group

A Rawang leader Lauban Tanggu Dang (Ah Dang; Burmese: တန်ဂူးတန်) established the Rebellion Resistance Force from the NDA-K group.

Leader

Zahkung Ting Ying is a Ngochang from the Yunnan Frontier. In 1968, he split from

and joined the Communist Party of Burma and established the CPB's 101 War Zone with Zaluman, another KIA defector. In 2016, he was expelled from the

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( , ) is the ''de jure'' national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar established by the 2008 National Constitution. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is made up of two houses, the 224-seat Amyotha Hluttaw, or "House of Nation ...

for violating election laws while campaigning.

Illegal rare-earth mining

Illegal rare earth mining has surged in NDA-K held areas bordering China following the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when Elections in Myanmar, democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's milita ...

. In April 2021, 100 rare earth mines were found in the area controlled by the militia. As the Chinese government cracked down on domestic rare earth mining, it has outsourced the destructive mining to Kachin State. , 2,700 mining collection pools scattered across 300 separate locations were found in Kachin State, encompassing the area of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and an exponential increase from 2016. Zakhung Ting Ying and other militia leaders have profited from this extractive industry. In December 2021, in rare earths were exported to China.

References