Kachin militia backed by Myanmar regime surrendered to KIA in December: sources

Members of a pro-junta Kachin armed group based in the village of Kawnghka in northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township surrendered without a fight to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) early last month, according to locals. The Kawnghka militia, as the group is known, made the move after losing a base to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in November, sources in the area told Myanmar Now. The TNLA, a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, has captured scores of military outposts and half a dozen towns in northern Shan State since the alliance launched its Operation 1027 offensive against the regime in late October. The group has been fighting for control of Kutkai, a key town on the road from Lashio to the Chinese border, since the end of December. Kawnghka is located just 10 miles east of Kutkai. The Kawnghka militia was formed in 2010 as a Border Guard Force under military command. It was previously known as the Kachin Defence Army, a KIA breakaway group led by former KIA Brigade 4 commander Ma Htu Naw, who signed a ceasefire with Myanmar’s military in the early 1990s. Drugs confiscated from Kawnghka are displayed by the military in March 2020 (AFP) Between 2018 and 2020, some 100 mid-ranking members of the group were targeted for arrest in the course of three raids carried out to crack down on illegal drug production. Around 2,000 firearms were also confiscated during the raids. Ma Htu Naw, the militia’s leader, died in December 2021. Although the Kawnghka militia rearmed after the military seized power in February 2021, it has not engaged in any clashes with anti-junta forces, unlike other army-backed militias based in northern Shan State. “The Kawnghka militia has been worried about losing their bases since the start of Operation 1027. So basically, the KIA has just stepped in and claimed their territory,” said a local man. Most of Kawnghka’s roughly 1,000 households are ethnic Kachin. The village is currently under the control of the KIA, which has troops stationed at a base just outside of its entrance, according to local sources. Further details regarding the village’s status, and that of other militia members based in the surrounding area, were not available due to the lack of telephone and internet access. The militia is believed to have 850 permanent members and around 2,000 reserve members divided into 11 groups. Most are based in Kawnghka, but others are stationed in the villages of Ho Hpyat, Lwei Khan, Kar Lai, Meng Yone Maw, Meng Lin, Ho Kho, and Man Mat.

Kachin militia backed by Myanmar regime surrendered to KIA in December: sources

The militia, based near Kutkai in northern Shan State, surrendered after losing a base to the TNLA, according to locals

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