Shan United Revolutionary Army

Shan United Revolutionary Army
ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်တပ်ပေါင်းစုတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်မတော်
Leaders
Dates active1959 (1959)[1] -1996 (1996)
HeadquartersHomong, Shan State
Active regionsShan State
Ideology
Part of Mong Tai Army
Warsthe Internal conflict in Myanmar

The Shan United Revolutionary Army (Burmese: ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်တပ်ပေါင်းစုတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်မတော်; abbreviated SURA) or Tai Revolutionary Council (TRC) was a Shan insurgent group in Myanmar (Burma), led by Moh Heng.[2][1]

History

The SURA was formed in the 1959 by Moh Heng, who earlier formed the Shan State Communist Party in 1956.[3]

The SURA however took anti-communist position due to its close links with the KMT. According to former SSA commander, Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, Mo Heng rejected overtures to form a united front on the basis of purported CPB influence within the SSPP. Chao Tzang Yawnghwe claims the real reason was that a united Shan front threatened the positions of ethnic Chinese smugglers and financiers who funded SURA.[1] In 1984, it merged with the anti-communist 2nd Brigade of the Shan State Army to form the Tai Revolutionary Council (TRC) when the 2nd Brigade headquarters was overrun by Khun Sa's Shan United Army (SUA).[4]

In early 1985 its headquarters at Piang Luang came under pressure from the SUA as the latter sought to consolidate control over the border area.[5] The TRC then ended its relationship the KMT, and allied itself with the SUA, to create the Mong Tai Army with its base of operations in Homong.[6][7] In 1996 most of its soldiers disarmed, but a group of 800 soldiers were integrated into the newly formed Shan State Army – South by Yawd Serk.

Further reading

  • Trevor Wilson (ed.) Myanmar's Long Road to National Reconciliation, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006, ISBN 978-981-230-363-9; 981-230-363-4

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Chao Tzang Yawnghwe. The Shan of Burma: Memoirs of a Shan Exile. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 122. ISBN 978-981-230-601-2.
  2. ↑ "Uppsala Conflict Encyclopedia, Myanmar (Burma)". Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Shan Gather to Pay Respect to Revolutionary Leader Moh Heng".
  4. ↑ Lintner, Bertil (14 April 1994). "Slow Strangle: Khun Sa remains defiant of Rangoon's squeeze". Far Eastern Economic Review: 365.
  5. ↑ Risser, Gary; Kher, Oum; Htun, Sein (14 April 1994). "Running the Gauntlet: The Impact of Internal Displacement in Southern Shan State". Humanitarian Affairs Research Project Asian Research Center for Migration Institute of Asian Studies: 18.
  6. ↑ Bertil Lintner, in Asia Online; 1 November 2007
  7. ↑ Robert Cribb (2002). The Far East and Australasia 2003, p. 870. ISBN 9781857431339. Retrieved 29 November 2014.