The Kachin Independence Army . ( Myanmar or Burma )

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Historical Background

The Kachins are one of the signatories to the Panglong Agreement in Feb 1947 which gave hope to a fully autonomous Kachin State.
The Kachins are mostly Christian. When Buddhism was declared as state religion in February 1961 under U NU’s regime, the Kachins were upset and formed the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to fight for an independent Kachin State. The political wing of the KIA is called the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).

Source-Free Burma Rangers’ Report

The Kachin Independence Army is the second largest armed ethnic group in Myanmar. The KIA claims to have 10,000 troops with another 10,000 reservists. The troops are divided into five brigades with HQ at Laiza.
The Kachins gave up their demand for independence and sought for state autonomy with self determination. Even this demand did not materialise and the KIO entered into a ceasefire with the military regime then called SLORC in February 1994 seeking nothing more than development of this region.
From 1994 Kachin has seen much development though at the cost of a heavy social and environmental price and with much discontentment to the civilian public. A number of hydropower dams including the recently suspended Myitsone dam are in Kachin State.
With the hope of a political settlement the KIO also attended the National Convention, which took more than 14 years to draft the 2008 Constitution. The KIO’s proposal to the National Convention for setting up a Union of Myanmar on the basis of the Panglong agreement was turned down under the threat of breaking the ceasefire agreement.
The Kachin people were (and are still) disappointed with the KIO/KIA for their failure to achieve a political settlement. Besides there were internal dissensions between the KIO and KIA during the period 1994 to 2004 which have weakened both these organisations to the advantage of the military junta.
In September 2010 the KIO refused to become a Border Guard Force under the Myanmar Army and instead made a counter proposal to transform as Kachin Regional Guard Force which was, as expected, rejected by the government.

The Myanmar Army

An extensive report on the army activities in the Kachin State has been compiled by The Free Burma Rangers, a Group that conducts humanitarian work within ethnic areas in Burma. The details of this report were published in Mizzima News (05 June 2012). The following are some of the major details extracted from this report:

• The Army is pressing attacks with over 100 battalions (approx 8000 troops)

• The Army is using 60mm, 81 mm and 120 mm mortars as well as 105mm Howitzers.

• The Army is adopting a three pronged strategy to (1) Control supply lines (2) Cut off access between 5th Brigade (including KIO HQ at Laiza) and 3rd Brigade and (3) cut off access between Laiza area and Laisen Area to the north.

• The Army is facing difficulty in resupplying their camps and pushing troops and materials forward because of frequent ambushes by the KIA on the army columns and resupply routes. As a result the army offensives have been much slowed down.

• The Army has taken control of most dam sites, areas where the Chinese dual gas and oil pipelines are being currently laid as well as areas where mining operations are taking place.

• Consequent to the army action over the last year (since June 2011) over 50,000 Kachin people have been displaced, over 60 Kachin civilians killed and around 100 Kachin soldiers killed. The casualties suffered by the army are not known though some reports indicate that the army also has suffered heavy casualties.

The KIO and the Peace Talks

With a view to end the hostilities between the KIA and the Myanmar Army, the KIO had met with government delegations in June and August 2011. Full scale delegation level talks were held in the Chinese border town of Ruili on 29 November 2011. The KIO’s demand for political dialogue and withdrawal of the army from locations close to the areas under control of the KIA as a precondition to further talks were turned down by the government delegation.
The KIO had the next round of talks with the government delegation at Ruili in China on 18 January 2012. China has been quietly hosting these talks presumably because of its major economic interests in the Kachin State and the influx of refugees into China.
One more round of talks was held on 19 June 2012 at Maija Yang (located on the China-Myanmar border) between the government team and the KIA where little progress was made.
The next round of talks to be held at Bhamo on 09 July 2012 did not materialise as the KIO refused to take part because of an army offensive launched during the weekend near Laiza, the KIO HQ. The Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Gen. Soe Win was also scheduled to attend the talks.
The KIO continues to insist for a political dialogue before agreeing to ceasefire even though most of the other ethnic armed groups have signed a ceasefire agreement within the last one year. The KIO, by insisting on a political dialogue prior to ceasefire agreement, faces the threat of isolation from other ethnic groups and may also be viewed as a stumbling block to the ongoing reforms by the international community and lose their sympathy and support