SSA, non-ceasefire Wa cement alliance

No.16 - 3/2007
27 March 2007
War
 
SSA, non-ceasefire Wa cement alliance
 
Shan State Army (SSA) troops have been shoring up the defense of a non-ceasefire Wa base along the Thai-Burma border, between Maehongson and Homong, according to Thai, Karenni and Shan sources.

^{Lt-Col Awng Mya}

An estimated 150-strong SSA unit, commanded by Lt-Col Awng Mya, have been with the Wa National Army (WNA), commanded by Col Bo Teuk Merng, at Loi Wa Her, also known as Loi Tawng Myauk, opposite Ban Rak Thai, Muang district, Maehongson province, for more than a year.
 
The base has been facing 4 Burma Army battalions, commanded by Col Soe Win Tun, backed up by 4 120 mm mortars:

• IB (Infantry Battalion) 131 in Mae Aw

• LIB (Light Infantry Battalion) 524 in Kawng Maihoong and Namon

• LIB 514 in Nawngleng

• LIB 422 in Maekun

^{Col Bo Teuk Merng}

The two sides have also been conducting joint patrols. Their 21-strong patrol, led by Captain Ta Plak, was on Sunday, 25 March, attacked by a 60-strong LIB 514-Homong militia at Khonglong, north of Homong, where 2 were killed. The Burma Army also lost 1 killed and 6 wounded, according to a local source.
 

^{Maha Hsang}

The WNA was founded by Ta Maha Hsang, Prince of Wiang Nguen, on 29 July 1974. Its political wing, Wa National Organization (WNO) is a member of the National Democratic Front (NDF). The group has been under pressure to give up its armed struggle since the arrest of Maha Hsang on drug charges by Thai police in 2005. Both Maha Hsang and the NDF have denied the charges.