This dyad belongs to the conflict Myanmar (Burma): Government
Summary of conflict Myanmar (Burma): Government
Myanmar (Burma) experienced intrastate conflict from its independence in 1948 onward and was subsequently characterized by recurring periods of intense fighting between the government and CPB (Communist Party of Burma) (1948-1989) and later also between the government and ABSDF (All Students Democratic Front) (1990-1994). In 2013, the government conflict was reactivated, as the government was challenged by the PSLF (Palaung State Liberation Front), which demanded an end to the military regime and the creation of an autonomous Palaung state within a genuine federation. In 2021, the conflict over government intensified after the military takeover of the government, which led to the establishment of NUG (National Unity Government).
The conflict over government escalated slightly in 2025, with fighting continuing across the country. The primary driver of this escalation was the ongoing conflict between the Government of Myanmar and the NUG, with fatalities reaching approximately 1 100, compared to around 990 in the previous year. The military intensified its campaign of airstrikes against rebel-held territories and areas perceived to support the resistance. Mandalay, Magway, and Sagaing regions continued to serve as strongholds of the NUG. At the same time, a key development occurred in the conflict between the Government of Myanmar and the PSLF. On 27-28 October, the PSLF signed a ceasefire agreement under which it agreed to return the towns of Mogoke in Mandalay Region and Mongmit in northern Shan State to the regime. In return, the military regime agreed not to launch offensives or airstrikes against the remaining territories under PSLF control. Following the ceasefire agreement, fighting largely ceased, with only several isolated strikes recorded until the end of the year.
2021: Coup
On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military, also known as Tatmadaw, under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing, took over the power from the democratically elected ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). Tatmadaw accused NLD of tampering with the results of the 2020 general election, hence demanding a new election to be held. The military installed the State Administration Council (SAC), which took the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers of the state, detained President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. SAC annulled the 2020 general election and called for new election, and until then, declared a nationwide state of emergency.
Following the coup, elected representatives of the November 2020 general election, who were unable to take their seats because of the coup, established the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) in order to oppose the military regime.
Immediately after the military takeover of the government, people started protesting in the form of chanting slogans against the military regime and demanding the democratically elected NLD back; organizing sit-in protests; beating pots and pans in the night; and organizing strikes. The military responded by using water cannons and tear gas, as well as rubber bullets and live ammunition against the peaceful protesters in order to disperse them. Furthermore, security forces arrested protesters, dragged them on the streets, neat them, and opened indiscriminate gunfire on the protesters and on the people inside their homes and balconies. Over the following months, as the number of killings of peaceful protesters increased, the people showed signs of changing attitude, signalling the intensifying of the conflict.
Armed resistance and confrontations replaced chanting slogans in the streets in April. Instead of conducting peaceful protests, people started arming themselves with traditional hunting guns (Tumi guns), homemade weapons, and some travelled to the territories of ethnic armed organizations, mainly to KIO (Kachin Independence Organization), KNU (Karen National Union), and KNPP (Karenni National Progressive Party), in order to receive the necessary military training and weapons to fight against the Myanmar military. The increased violence by the security forces led people to unite under their local groups in order to defend themselves and strengthen their power. The village defence groups attacked and ambushed security forces to prevent them from entering and raiding their villages, arresting, and brutally treating their residents.
On 16 April, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) established the NUG (National Unity Government) as a shadow government for Myanmar. They announced that NUG is a “body claiming to be the legitimate government of Myanmar” with the aim to end the military regime and establish a federal government. Following the creation of NUG, many village defence forces announced their support to NUG.
On 5 May, NUG formed People Defence Forces (PDF) as an armed wing to oppose the military regime to protect people, prevent killings and other violent acts, The PDF was created to eventually be the Federal Union Army, which would unite the Bamar militia with the Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations.
Following the announcement of the creation of the PDF, the anti-coup resistance groups and local defense forces pledged allegiance to the NUG and rebranded themselves as the local chapters of PDF to act accordingly, and help NUG to establish a civilian ruled government. Throughout the year, the armed violence against the military spread across Myanmar as PDF forces conducted ambushes and IED attacks against military installations and convoys. In addition, they teamed up with some if the ethnic armed organizations and conducted joint operations in the territories controlled by them. Most notably, with KIO in Kachin and northern Shan states, with KNPP in Kayah state's Loikaw and Demoso townships and their neighboring Pekon township in Shan state, and with KNU in Kayin state. Furthermore, the Sagang region, Chin state, Mandalay and Yangon witnessed heavy fighting between the government forces and NUG.
On 7 September,the acting president of NUG , Duwa Lashi La, officially declared war on the military regime in order to end military rule. NUG called on all citizens to join the armed resistance throughout the country and declared a state of emergency. In addition, he asked the local PDFs to increase the intensity of their activities. He encouraged the ethnic armed organizations to increase their attacks on the military and maintain their dominance over their territories. He called on Border Guard Forces, individual soldiers and police, and military-allied militias to defect and join NUG.
The declaration of war increased the intensity of the conflict and the clashes between the PDFs and the government forces become more frequent. In September alone, 62 clashes were reported. Furthermore, NUG announced that they started to provide local PDFs with weapons and ammunition that is necessary to protect the people. Even though the NUG failed to establish a centralized command and control system that would bring all the local PDFs under NUG in 2021, local PDFs entered the UCDP data with the creation of NUG.
Nationalism, the Second World War, and independence
The anti-colonial movement in the 1930s was dominated by ethnic Burman nationalism and was inspired both by communism and the Asian-nationalist ideology of imperial Japan. There was particular discontent with the prominent role of Indian immigrants in the business community and the willingness of ethnic minorities (most notably the Karen) to work in the British colonial apparatus. Thirty nationalist leaders received military training by Japan and formed the Burma Independence Army (BIA) in late 1941 which subsequently participated with the Japanese against the British during the Second World War.
When it became clear to the Burman leaders that the Japanese would not hand over power to them, they reorganized as the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) and helped the British to recapture Burma in 1945. The AFPFL consisted of many different factions that held different opinions about how best to achieve independence, and soon factionalized into several, largely left-leaning organizations. A power struggle within the Communist Party of Burma(CPB) in February-March 1946 led to the ouster of Thakin Soe who set up his own Red Flag movement (CPB-RF) and started preparing for guerrilla warfare in the Irrawaddy delta. By October 1946, the other faction of CPB, the White Flags (CBP-WF), was expelled from AFPFL following their reluctance to co-operate with the British in the transfer of power to independent Burma.
When Burma became independent in January 1948, it was against a backdrop of political unrest. Armed insurrections were already underway in the Arakan region and several ethnic minorities were openly pursuing the option of separate independence. CPB-WF was agitating for revolution and the government ordered the arrest of the group’s top leaders on 27 March 1948. As the police raided the headquarters when none of the leaders were present, the CPB-WF fled to rural areas and initiated armed struggle.
Communist revolution in central Burma
When White Flag CPB took up arms just north of the capital Rangoon in April 1948, the Red Flag CPB continued its guerrilla strategy in the Irrawaddy delta, and almost half of the government army mutinied and made alliances with the rebels. In addition, the nationalist militia the People’s Volunteers Organization (PVO) split in July 1948 with one faction, the “White Bands”, also turning against the government. During the first year of independence, the Burma regime was able to maintain its hold on power by relying on the loyalty of the ethnic battalions (in particular the Karen and Kachin rifles) in the army.
Government attempts to regain control over army defectors and the PVO forces led to the offer of amnesties and more leftist policies, especially after the Karen rifles mutinied in early 1949 to join the opposition in the Karen conflict. The CPB and Karen rebels co-operated and soon took control over almost the entire country except central Rangoon, but remained internally divided and disorganized. The government launched several successful counteroffensives, making alliances with forces of local warlords, that focused on rebel-held towns and by 1951 the communists concentrated their efforts on establishing “liberated” zones in rural areas.
Many foot soldiers became disillusioned after the failure to seize power and the rebel armies lost many recruits. The CPB-RF continued to control territories in the Irrawaddy delta and the Arakan hills where they created alliances with ethnic rebels (KNUP in the delta, ANLP in Arakan). At the same time, legal leftist parties received many votes in parliamentary elections and were influential in determining the policies of the government. In 1957, remaining PVO - White Band forces accepted a government amnesty, and a government offensive in 1958 forced the CPB to retreat its last 1000 troops into the poor mountain area of Pegu Yoma, just north of Rangoon.
Chinese support
On 2 March 1962, a bloodless coup d’état ousted the elected Burmese government and installed Ne Win as the leader of a self-styled socialist-Buddhist government. The new government was denounced by CPB members in Chinese exile, and their views found support from the Chinese leadership vary of the ambitions of the Burmese junta. Already by 1963, plans were being drawn up for a Chinese-sponsored offensive from Yunnan into northeastern Burma and eventually a link-up with the CPB headquarters just north of Rangoon. Following anti-Chinese communal riots in Rangoon 1967, the CPB invasion army was boosted by thousands of Yunnanese “volunteers.”
On the morning of New Years Day 1968, the CPB offensive was launched from China into northern Burma. The communist army did not lose any major engagements with the government until during the dry season 1971-72 and managed to gain control over almost all territory in the northeastern Burma. This was partly because of the military support provided from China, but also through alliances with ethnic minority leaders that became integrated into the CPB or allied pro-communist armies.
While the government was being defeated in the north, it concentrated its efforts on rebels based closer to Rangoon. In 1970, the last camp of CPB-RF was captured and the leader Thakin Soe was jailed, while repeated offensives eventually forced the CPB and its allies the KNUP to withdraw from central Burma in early 1975. Subsequent attempts to recapture a foothold in central Burma failed.
The disintegration of CPB
With the help of Chinese assistance, the CPB was by 1975 the strongest rebel group in Burma. However, leadership changes in China also contributed to the organizations inability to transform this assistance to popular support among the Burmese public. During the 1976-77 leadership struggles in China, the CPB took an official stance supporting the radical left and criticizing the “revisionist line” of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaopeng. After Deng formally had taken over the leadership in China, the support for CPB was withdrawn.
As annual government offensives against CPB-held areas also increased in the early 1980s, lower-level commanders and the rank-and-file became increasingly discontent with the leadership. Most CPB soldiers and field commanders were recruited among ethnic minorities that had little, if any, strong ideological ties to the CPB goals. In fact, very few Wa, Kachin, Kokang Chinese, Shan, Lahu, Akha, etc. was members of the party and these groups had little representation in party decision making organs. Discontent also spread because of the reliance on “human wave” tactics that led to substantial casualties in battle, and the sudden decision to severely punish any CPB cadre involved in the drug trade. As opium is one of the few resources available in Kokang, the Wa hills, and other CPB-controlled areas, this was seen as further proof that the ageing Burman leadership were disconnected from the lives of the hill tribes.
Military and political developments further contributed to the eventual breakup of the CPB. In 1986-1987, government forces managed to capture control over a key border trade post at Panghsai which led to the reestablishment of official surface trade between Burma and China. This further decimated CPB revenue as well as shattering the morale of the fighters. In addition, China became increasingly adamant in trying to pressure CPB to renounce armed struggle. The following year, as pro-democracy protests rocked the streets of Rangoon and other Burmese cities, younger members of CPB wanted to support the movement in overthrowing the regime but this suggestion was voted down by the top leaders.
On 12 March 1989, Kokang Chinese units led by Peng Jiasheng openly challenged the CPB’s central leadership and captured Mong Ko. Soon, several other ethnic commanders and their forces joined the mutiny, and on 16 April, Wa troops stormed the CPB headquarters at Panghsang and forced the old CPB leadership into exile in China. Former CPB forces split into several ethnic-specific groups which soon were contacted by the Myanmar government and offered ceasefires, which were accepted by many parties. Some of these groups later became active in the Wa (UWSA) and Kokang (MNDAA) conflicts.
The democracy movement of 1988
In the mid-1980s, students at universities in Rangoon began to voice criticism against the authoritarian regime. A 1987 government campaign to combat inflation and a growing black market economy resulted in 60-80 percent of all money in circulation becoming worthless. This led to the first anti-government demonstrations in over a decade, held September 1987 in Rangoon. In the spring of 1988, police killed 42 student demonstrators in Rangoon, which set off a wave of protests and calls for democracy throughout the country. In response, the police and military imposed curfews in major cities, closed down universities, and detained hundreds of protesters.
After General Sein Lwin of the security police was appointed chairman of the ruling BSPP (Burma Socialist Program Party) in July, new protests were organized. On 8 August 1988, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Rangoon and other major cities demanding democracy and political reform. Workers and students went on strike to increase the pressure on the rulers. Two days later, the government issued "shoot to kill" orders and sent troops against the demonstrators, killing allegedly over 3 000 people in Rangoon alone, and making mass-arrests. Protests continued for another two months, but these were constantly met with government surpression, despite international condemnation. On 19 September, the BSPP was replaced by a military government. Many students that managed to escape government forces took refuge with ethnic resistance armies in the jungle. In November, these students formed the militant ABSDF (All Burma Students Democratic Front) and began to pursue an armed struggle against the government with the help of ethnic guerrillas.
Student insurgency
At first, the ABSDF only provided supporting troops to the ethnic insurgents such as the Karen, Kachin, Karenni and the Mon. After a leadership change in 1990, the ABSDF became more independent in their activities as the government started to target them as an independent group. It should be noted that the ABSDF was very dependent on help - not least logistically - from the ethnic groups. When the KNPP negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the government in 1994, the ABSDF faction nearby was told to demobilize.
The Myanmarese military in 1997 managed to overrun the ABSDF headquarters, located near the main KNU camp. This seemed to be the end of the ABSDF united armed struggle, as the remaining troops seemed to integrate into the different ethnic armies in their vicinity. The ABSDF remained active, however, as a political group in opposition alliances.
In August 2012, President Thein Sein announced his intention to launch a nationwide peace process, with the aim of signing a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with all rebel groups leading to a political dialogue. On 5 August 2013, the ABSDF and the Kayin State government signed a state-level ceasefire agreement. On 10 August 2013, the ABSDF and the national government signed a bilateral 13-point preliminary ceasefire agreement providing for the continuation of political dialogue towards reaching a ceasefire, the establishment of a ceasefire monitoring committee and the opening of liaison offices.
On 15 October 2015, eight ethnic and pro-democracy rebel groups, including the ABSDF, signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the national government (a further ten groups involved in the peace process chose not to do so). As of June 2017, discussions on a political settlement to Myanmar’s numerous armed conflicts, remain ongoing.
PSLF and the Palaung conflict
Myanmar’s Shan state has been a hotbed for insurgency activities for decades, with several armed groups fighting for the rights of the Shan ethnic group. Aside from the Shan people, Shan state is also the home of the Palaung people, or Da Ta-ang as they call themselves; this minority group lives mostly in the state’s northwestern mountains. Numbering over one million, the Palaung - a Mon-Khmer sub-group - have a long history. The group is said to be among the first settlers in the region of Burma/Myanmar, where it has been historically independent and self-sufficient. In colonial times, the territory of northeastern Myanmar (Burma) that borders China, Laos, and Thailand was ruled by local headmen - so-called sawbwas - that experienced substantial autonomy from the British authorities. The main reason for why these regions even had been included into the British colony was to protect the trade routes to China and to prevent French Indochina to extend further west. These sawbwas were primarily ethnic Shan or Tai, but there were also several minorities in these areas including Kokang (Chinese), Kachin, Lahu, Lisu, Akha, Wa, Palaung, and Pa-O. Whereas the Burman independence movement had limited influence on these areas, consultations were held with the sawbwas during the preparation of the transfer of power. At a meeting in Panglong on 12 February 1947, the regional governor of the Palaung, Saw Bwa Khun Pan Sein, agreed to join the Union of Burma.
The Palaung has seen a number of different ethnic militias and peaceful organizations representing their claims over the years. The first peaceful group was Palaung Nationalities United League formed in 1946 but abolished by the military regime in 1962. Consequently, the next group was the Palaung National Force (PNF), formed on 12 January 1963; in its early years, PNF fought under the Shan State Army (SSA) before breaking off in 1966. In 1976, PNF was reformed into the Palaung State Liberation Organization/Party/Army (PSLA). The group signed a ceasefire agreement with the government on 21 April 1991. Following the agreement, the Namsang and Mong Ton townships in Shan State were made into a Palaung self-administered zone in 1995. PSLA subsequently signed an agreement that unconditionally exchanged arms for peace in April 2005. Former PSLA members formed the Ta’ang National Party (TNP), which was able to win 6 seats in the 2010 parliamentary election.
As a reaction to the 1991 ceasefire agreement with the government, a PSLA splinter faction called Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) - led by Mai Tin Moung and Mai Aik Phone - was formed on 12 January 1992. PSLF demanded, among other things, the creation of an autonomous Ta’ang (Palaung) state within a “genuine federal union”, and the end of Myanmar’s military regime. As PSLF sought to incorporate a national Palaung state in a federal union of Burma, the UCDP considered PSLF’s incompatibility to have been over government.
In October 2009, the PSLF founded its new armed wing, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and began regaining territories in northern Shan in 2011. The group also performed joint-operations at the Thai-Burma border. In 2012 military operations increased in Ta’ang regions of Nam San, Man Ton, Nam Kham and western parts of Kut Khai Township against PSLF and its allies.
During 2013, clashes between the government and the PSLF took place primarily during the second half of the year in northern Shan state. Talks between the parties were held in Muse in northern Shan State on July 31, where they agreed to hold further talks later during the year. These talks did not take place, but there was however a follow-up meeting held with a technical committee in October; nevertheless, clashes escalated during the second half of the year. In November, government forces launched an offensive against PSLF between Manmauk and Tan-tay village in Manton township in Shan state, and it was in connection to this event that the conflict exceeded 25 battle-related deaths. During 2014, the PSLF and the KIO were the only larger ethnic groups fighting against the government and the army increased operations against the PSLF. Clashes between the Government of Myanmar and PSLF primarily took place in northern Shan state from April to the end of August 2014. The army increased operations, even as the government negotiators attempted to reach nationwide ceasefire agreement with all ethnic armed groups in the country.
In 2015, the PSLF clashed with the government in northern Shan state, and there was a marked increase in the verified number of fatalities during the year. PSLF also formed an alliance with the re-emerged MNDAA (Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army) and the Arakan Army (AA). The conflict was inactive in 2016 as the best estimate of battle-related deaths did not reach over 25. In 2017, the conflict was reactivated as a result of fatal clashes between the PSLF and the government in in Kyaukme and Muse districts. Armed violence continued in 2018. The deadliest event took place in May that year when at least 19 people were killed near Muse town, including 15 civilians. A spokesperson for TNLA said the event was a reaction to the national army’s attacks on TNLA camps and tensions in areas controlled by KIO, an ally of the PSLF (TNLA).
Since late 2016, the PSLF has acted individually and as part of the "Northern Alliance (Burma)". The "Northern Alliance (Burma)" is a tactical cooperation arrangement including PSLF, MNDAA, KIO, and the Arakan Army (AA).
