SUMMARY
Fighting between MTA (Mong Tai Army) and UWSA (United Wa State Army) can be traced, for the most part, to the drug trade in which both groups were involved in the Shan State of Myanmar (Burma). The area was only nominally under the control of the Myanmarese (Burmese) state, has been subjected to conflict over independence with the central government since as early as 1958. Further, the area is rich in opium, constituting a large part of the so-called Golden Triangle, one of the world’s largest producers of heroin.
As such, the struggle of both MTA and UWSA was mainly centered on the desire to acquire as much territory as possible in the fertile areas of the region. Furthermore, UWSA vowed to fight any opposition armed group as part of the cease-fire agreement signed with the Government of Myanmar (Burma) in 1989. As this ceasefire allowed UWSA unhindered activities (including drug-related) in the region under its control, attacking MTA became a relatively clear undertaking.
Both troops used similar strategies and tactics, consistent with the guerilla warfare taking place in various areas of Shan State. Battles were fought using automatic weapons, mortars and light artillery, most fighting taking the form of attacks on enemy outposts or skirmishes in the hills and forests close to the Thai border. Fighting was relatively large in scale, involving over 4000 UWSA and at least 2000 MTA troops. External reports describe UWSA as being both larger in size and better equipped than MTA.
The conflict took place alongside the border between Thailand and China, in the Shan State of Myanmar (Burma). The area is part of the Golden Triangle, one of the two largest opium-growing areas in the world, and, more or less since Myanmar'sindependence, was not under the control of the Government of Myanmar (Burma). Both parties put significant resources and importance on the control of strategic areas, such as Doi Lang (Maungteun), one of the main access points into the area and drug-smuggling areas from the outside world.
The non-state conflict between MTAand UWSA is first included in UCDP data in 1990. In February of that year, violence between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
