Armed wing of Myanmar’s Communist Party seizes 138 elephants from junta

The armed wing of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) says it has taken control of 138 elephants belonging to the junta’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. In a statement released on Tuesday, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reported that the elephants, from 21 camps in Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin and Singu townships, had been displaced by the ongoing conflict with regime forces. Since July 10, elephants and their handlers from 11 camps have been taking refuge in areas controlled by the PLA, the group said in its statement. Prior to this, the PLA had already secured 10 elephant camps within its controlled zones. Employees from the additional camps all sought refuge in PLA-held territory after fighting escalated following the capture of Singu Township by resistance forces early last month. The PLA stated that it would safeguard the elephants, which were used by the regime for logging, as “people’s treasures” and return them to the appropriate authorities once a new democratic government is established.The CPB was founded in 1939, and was the main force opposing Myanmar’s military after the country achieved its independence from British colonial rule in 1948. In 1989, after decades of insurgency, the group collapsed following a mutiny by rank-and-file members of the PLA, most of whom were ethnic Wa and Kokang. This forced the CPB’s mostly ethnic Burman leadership into exile in China. A month after the military seized power again in February 2021, the PLA re-emerged as part of the armed resistance movement against the newly installed regime. Since then, it has received training from the Kachin Independence Army and weapons and other equipment from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic Kokang army formed in 1989. The PLA is part of Brigade 611, a coalition of resistance forces taking part in Operation 1027, an offensive launched by the Brotherhood Alliance in October of last year. It has been actively involved in clashes in Sagaing and Tanintharyi regions and in territories controlled by the MNDAA and its fellow Brotherhood Alliance member, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.

Armed wing of Myanmar’s Communist Party seizes 138 elephants from junta

The People’s Liberation Army says it promises to protect the elephants and hand them over to a future democratic government

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