| Karen National Liberation Army – Myanmar’s guerrilla group |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Wednesday, 21 February 2007 | |
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Thousands of Karen civilians have died since the rebellion between the Army and KNLA started 58 years ago, just a year after Myanmar’s independence. Hundreds of thousands more Karen peasants have been made homeless during one of the world's longest running insurgencies. The two sides have tried to open ceasefire negotiations but these efforts have stalled over the government's demand that the rebels first lay down their arms. In the early days of its campaign, Karen forces, most of whom had fought in Britain's colonial Army, nearly succeeded in seizing the capital Rangoon but were held off in a northern suburb of the city. In the 1980s it could claim tens of thousands of guerrillas operating from over 14 permanent border camps, but its strength has dwindled to a few thousand members now. The KNLA was for many years able to fund its activities by controlling black market trade across the border with Thailand. After a failed uprising of the Burmese people in 1988, the Burmese military government turned to China for help. Various economic concessions were offered to China in exchange for weapons. The Burmese Army was massively expanded and began to offer deals to groups fighting the government. The groups were offered the choice of cooperating with the military junta or being destroyed. The rebels further suffered a major setback in late 1994 when the Buddhist faction staged a mutiny against the Christian-dominated group and eventually break away and joined the Burmese government. This group, known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), was given territory inside of Myanmar to rule over in exchange. The split led to the collapse of the KNLA headquarters at Manerplaw in 1995. The KNLA’s effectiveness was severely diminished after the fall of its headquarters and it could not stand up from that. Since then, the KNLA have continued to fight the Myanmar state military by forming guerilla units and basing themselves in temporary jungle camps on the Thai-Burma border. Several attempts were made to prepare a form of peace with Myanmar’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), but with little success. The KNU nevertheless reached a "gentleman's agreement" to cease hostilities with the Army in December 2003; but no formal peace deal was signed and battles still continue with government troops and their allies. The Karen conflict is the oldest war of independence in the world, having been waged for 58 years is still on. For how long will it exist, no one knows. -End- Share & Bookmark             |
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