National Democratic Alliance Army | |
---|---|
မြန်မာအမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရက်တစ် မဟာမိတ်တပ်မတော် | |
Leaders | U Sai Leun Sao Hsengla San Pae |
Dates of operation | 1989 | –present
Headquarters | Mong La |
Active regions | Shan State Special Region 4 |
Ideology | Shan nationalism |
Size | 3,000[1]–4,000[2] |
Part of | Peace and Solidarity Committee (PSC) |
Allies | Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army New Democratic Army - Kachin United Wa State Army |
Opponents | Myanmar Union of Myanmar (until 2011) |
The National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA)[n 1] is an insurgent group in eastern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma).[5] It is the armed wing of the Peace and Solidarity Committee(PSC).
The Mong La area had been under the control of several warlords since the 1960s.[6] The NDAA was formed in 1989 after splitting from the former Communist Party of Burma (CPB). The strength of the army is 3,000 to 4,000 men.[2][1]
The NDAA was one of the first groups to sign a ceasefire with the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces).[6] After the ceasefire, the area underwent an economic boom, and the NDAA had benefited financially from increased opium harvests and narcotics trafficking.[7] The NDAA declared an opium ban in the Mong La region in 1997 and signed a new ceasefire with the Myanmar government in 2011.[8]
The NDAA maintains close ties with other rebel armed groups that split from the CPB, such as the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the New Democratic Army - Kachin (NDA-K), and the United Wa State Army (UWSA). In 2008 the UWSA was strongly against giving away the area of Mong Pawk from its control because it serves as a link with its ally, the National Democratic Alliance Army in Mong La.[9]