National Democratic Alliance Army

The National Democratic Alliance Army (Burmese: မြန်မာအမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရက်တစ် မဟာမိတ်တပ်မတော်; abbreviated NDAA),[3] also known as the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), colloquially the Eastern Shan State Army [4] or the Mong La group, is the armed wing of the Peace and Solidarity Committee (PSC; Mandarin: 和平与团结委员会) in eastern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). The latter name originated from its location in the Mong La Township in eastern Shan State, known also as 'Shan State Special region 4'.[5]

This article is about the armed group in the Mong La area. For the armed group in the Kokang region, see Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.
National Democratic Alliance Army
မြန်မာအမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရက်တစ် မဟာမိတ်တပ်မတော်
Participant in the internal conflict in Myanmar
Flag of the National Democratic Alliance Army
Active1989 (1989)–present
IdeologyShan nationalism
LeadersSai Leun
Sao Hsengla
San Pae
HeadquartersMong La, Myanmar
Area of operationsSR4, Shan State-East
Size3,000[1]–4,000[2]
Allies Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army

New Democratic Army - Kachin

United Wa State Army
Opponent(s) Myanmar Union of Myanmar (until 2011)
Battles and war(s)Internal conflict in Myanmar

History

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, with both the NDAA and local Tatmadaw units benefiting 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 Burmese 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]

References
  1. "NDAA". Myanmar Peace Monitor. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  2. "Armed ethnic groups". Myanmar Peace Monitor. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. "NDAA and UWSA deny involvement in Mekong incident". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  4. "The National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  5. "Another wrong turn in Mong La". Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  6. South, Ashley (2008). Ethnic politics in Burma: states of conflict. Taylor & Francis. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-203-89519-1.
  7. Skidmore, Monique; Wilson, Trevor (2007). Myanmar: the state, community and the environment. ANU E Press. p. 69.
  8. "Neither War Nor Peace - Transnational Institute" (PDF). Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  9. "Home". Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
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