Pa-O National Army

Pa-O National Army
ပအိုဝ်ႏစွိုးခွိုꩻတပ်မတောႏ
Leader
U Aung Kham Hti[1]
Military leader
Khun Myint Aung
Dates active1949 (1949) – 9 December 2009; 2021–present
HeadquartersTaunggyi, Shan State, Myanmar
Active regionsPa-O Self-Administered Zone
(controlled territory)
IdeologyPa-O nationalism
Buddhist nationalism[2]
Ultranationalism[2]
Size4,000 (2023) 41,000 (2024)[3]
Warsthe Internal conflict in Myanmar
Websitehttps://paonational.army/

The Pa-O National Army (Pa'o Karen: ပအိုဝ်ႏစွိုးခွိုꩻတပ်မတောႏ, Burmese: ပအိုဝ်းအမျိုးသားတပ်မတော်; abbreviated PNA) is a Pa-O state sponsored militia in Myanmar (Burma). It was established in 1949 and is the armed wing of the Pa-O National Organisation.[4][5]

The PNA protects the PNO-governed Pa-O Self-Administered Zone, which consists of three townships in southern Shan State: Hopong, Hsi Hseng, and Pinlaung townships.[1]

The PNA signed a ceasefire agreement with the then ruling State Peace and Development Council on 11 April 1991 and reformed itself as a people's militia force. It merged with other Pa-O paramilitary groups on 9 December 2009.[5][6] Following the military coup d'état on 1 February 2021, there have been reports of PNA forcibly recruiting locals, extorting money and conducting joint operations with the Burmese military against resistance groups.[7][8] An outpost occupied by allied forces of the Burmese military and PNA in Nyaung Shwe Township, southern Shan State was seized by a joint force of Pekon People's Defence Force and Karenni Nationalities Defence Force in May 2022.[9]

On 9 January 2025, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force captured an alleged 15 year-old child soldier in the PNA.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 South, Ashley (2008). Ethnic Politics in Burma: States of Conflict. Oxon: Routledge. pp. 122–124. ISBN 978-0-203-89519-1. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Misinformation, Hate Speech and Ethno-Religious Tensions in Myanmar". United States Institute of Peace. 27 April 2024. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "'They are preparing for war': Forced recruiting by Pa-O militia in Shan". Frontier Myanmar. 28 February 2023. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Armed ethnic groups". Myanmar Peace Monitor. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  5. 1 2 "PNLO". Myanmar Peace Monitor. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Kyaw, Sann; Christensen, Russ (2006). The Pa-O: Rebels and Refugees. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. ISBN 978-974-9575-93-2.
  7. ↑ "PNO/PNA Recruiting Youths In Mong Pawn Township". BNI. 15 June 2022. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "The Myanmar Military Junta's Divide and Rule Tactic". BNI. 2 June 2022. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  9. ↑ "Myanmar Resistance Claims Victory Over Junta Outpost". The Irrawaddy. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  10. ↑ PNA ကလေးစစ်သားတစ်ဦး ဖမ်းဆီးရမိကြောင်း KNDF ပြော Radio Free Asia. January 10, 2025
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.