As night falls near the Chinese border, Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fighters patrol along the front line, scanning the horizon for the shadow of their enemy, the Burmese junta.
The TNLA brings together rebels from the Ta’ang ethnic group, one of the ethnic groups who have been fighting the army for decades, demanding more autonomy and control of the lucrative resources of northeastern Burma.
Their demands long passed under the radar of the news, before the February 1, 2021 coup put them at the center of the game.
Armed groups like the TNLA fight on the front line against the junta, alongside the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), the new pro-democracy opposition, to which they provide refuge and training.
The coup that toppled elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi plunged the country back into violent civil conflict, killing more than 3,000 people and displacing hundreds of thousands more.
“We have the sympathy and support of the other peoples of Burma since the coup,” said TNLA military official Tar Bhon Kyaw.
“People now understand why we are fighting… It’s thanks to the blow,” he continues.
A few days after the coup, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army ended a ceasefire previously negotiated with the army.
It now claims more than 7,000 soldiers in its territory, which extends in the north of Shan State (east), along major axes leading to China.
In a camp at an undisclosed location, young fighters train on an obstacle course, pointing their AK-47s or M-22s at an imaginary enemy.
Mai Naing Aung Kyar, 24, joined the TNLA after the coup to “revolt” against the junta.
“We can’t protest in cities, but I thought joining the TNLA was another way to fight,” he said.
The Ta’ang rebels are using their combat experience to train young PDF members from other parts of Burma, said Tar Bhon Kyaw, and have also used their “contacts” to enable them to buy weapons.
But the manager did not provide details, in the name of the security of the operation.
Many ethnic groups in Burma, resistant to central power, have trained and armed thousands of members of the PDF along the borders with China, India and Thailand, according to experts.
These underlined their combat effectiveness, which surprised the junta, mired in a conflict that is bogged down.
But there is a price to pay when collaborating with the new enemies of the army, which it describes as “terrorists”.
In a village near the military camp, a school was destroyed by fire during an army raid.
At the construction site of the new school, workers dug holes in a nearby embankment to protect themselves from possible airstrikes – a popular modus operandi of the junta, which intends to take advantage of its advantage provided by its Russian-made jets and Chinese, despite charges of war crimes.
An air force raid that killed around 170 people in the Sagaing area, including children, sparked international outrage in early April.
While waiting for the new building, 52-year-old Khin Lay Yu teaches about 20 children in a basic structure made of wooden beams and tarpaulins.
She would like “bunkers for students” for the start of the school year in June, she says.
“Our school has about 500 students and we have to work hard to build enough of them,” she continues.
04/19/2023 12:07:27 – Namhsan (Burma) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
