National Democratic Alliance Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the armed group in the Mongla region. For armed group in the Kokang region, see Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army.
National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS)
Chairman Sai Leun
Secretary-General Sao Hsengla
Vice Chairman San Pae
Founded 1989 (1989)
Split from Communist Party of Burma
Headquarters Mong La Region
Shan State, Myanmar
Colors              Yellow-Green-Red

National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA),[1] Burmese: မြန်မာအမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရက်တစ် မဟာမိတ်တပ်မတော်, is a rebel army in northeastern Burma. It is also known as the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), the Eastern Shan State Army)[2] and as the Mongla Army or Mongla Group, the latter owing to its location in the in Mongla area in eastern Shan State, known also as 'Shan State Special region 4'.[3]

History[edit]

The Mongla area had been under the control of several warlords since the 1960s.[4] The NDAA was formed in 1989 after splitting from the former Communist Party of Burma (CPB). The strength of the army is around 3,000 men.[5]

The NDAA was one of the first groups to agree to a ceasefire with the government troops.[4] After the ceasefire, the area underwent an economic boom, with both the NDAA and regional Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) troops benefiting financially from increased opium harvests and heroin-refining.[6] The NDAA declared an opium ban in the Mongla region in 1997 and signed a new ceasefire with the Burmese government in 2011.[7]

The NDAA maintains close ties with other rebel armed groups that split from the CPB, such as the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the New Democratic Army (Kachin) (NDA-K). In 2008 the (UWSA) was strongly against giving away the area of Mong Pawk from its control because it serves as a link with its ally, the National Democratic Alliance Army in Mongla.[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ NDAA and UWSA deny involvement in Mekong incident
  2. ^ The National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State
  3. ^ Another wrong turn in Mong La
  4. ^ a b South, Ashley (2008). Ethnic politics in Burma: states of conflict. Taylor & Francis. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-203-89519-1.
  5. ^ Myanmar Peace Monitor - NDAA
  6. ^ Skidmore, Monique; Wilson, Trevor (2007). Myanmar: the state, community and the environment. ANU E Press. p. 69.
  7. ^ Neither War Nor Peace - Transnational Institute
  8. ^ Wa leader: UWSA able to defend itself

External links[edit]