Myanmar Spring Chronicle – July 01 Scenes
MoeMaKa, July 02, 2023
A border guard force in Karenni State officially changed sides and its potential
The armed group, known as the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF), which until recently was registered as a border guard force, issued a statement under the name of Comrade Law Rin Soe to fight back the military council along with other revolutionary armed forces.
In recent days, there have been reports that the KNPLF and other revolutionary armed groups have joined forces and attacked military council bases, police stations, and administrative offices near the town of Mese in the Karenni region. It has also been found in some reports that military council officers and soldiers from the KNPLF border guard force were arrested and disarmed by the KNPLF, and then, the whole group changed sides to the side of the revolutionary armed forces by battalion. It can be confirmed that some of the military council camps around the Mese area were captured and that fierce fighting took place in the Mese, but the details of how and what happened are not known.
The KNPLF group is known as a left-wing ideological organization that broke away from the KNPP (Karenni National Progressive Party) group in 1978. They were allied with the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) until its collapse in 1989, as well as with the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) after its emergence in 1988. In 1994, a cease-fire agreement was reached with the military junta that came to power in 1988. Not only the KNPLF but also the KIA (Kachin Independence Army) agreed to a ceasefire with the junta in the same year. KNPLF acted according to the ceasefire agreement until 2009/2010, and before the 2010 election, when the ceasefire groups were pressured to transform into Border Guard Forces (BGF), they accepted in principle, and some battalions were transformed into BGF. In those days, the KNPLF was engaged in business activities such as resource production and trade under the heading of regional development, and after the transformation into the BFG in 2010, it lost some of the political trust of the local people.
The KNPLF, which has an armed force of several thousands, did not directly participate in the armed movements and attacks that emerged in the Karenni region after the 2021 military coup. But, they have accepted young people who came from cities and towns to take refuge with the intention of launching an armed attack on the military council army. In recent times, some reports have reported that the KNPLF has been secretly helping and participating in the armed conflict in the Karenni region. By the end of June 2023, they had publicly announced that they would fight together with other revolutionary armed forces and had completely transformed the BGF, which contained military council members.
The Kayan New Land Party armed group, which is in a similar situation to the KNPLF, has also existed in the Karenni region. It is a group that has been transformed into a militia, in other words, a border guard force, and has yet to officially attack the military council.
Some observers believe that the KNPLF’s declaration of official support for the revolutionary armed forces is a shift in the balance of support because the military council can no longer control the Karenni region militarily. Some believe that the KNPLF has been helping behind the scenes since the military coup, and now it has been officially disclosed after a suitable period of time.
In the Karenni region, there are KNPP/KA, which has had decades of political and military action and is believed to be the most powerful, and KNDF, KNPLF, and Kayan New Land Party, which were re-established with young people after the 2021 military coup, as well as some other small armed organizations formed after February 2021. It must be said that how these armed groups will cooperate with each other is a situation that will continue to be monitored.