Consequences of the Kokang crisis for peace, democracy in Myanmar

Myanmar

31 July 2015

The Nation - The renewed violence in the Kokang region of the northern Shan state in February has had serious repercussions for efforts to solve ethnic conflict in Myanmar and end the decades-old civil war.

A group of kids seen in Nyaungshwe, Inle Lake

The fighting started when troops led by the veteran Kokang leader Pheung Kya-shin (Peng Jiasheng) resurfaced in the Kokang region and attacked government and army positions after an interval of nearly six years. Pheung Kya-shin's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), a former ceasefire group and government ally, was ousted from the Kokang region in 2009 by a rival Kokang leader with the help of the Tatmadaw (national armed forces). This coup happened after Pheung's MNDAA had refused to accept the demand of the previous military government to transform into a Border Guard Force.

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Ethnic Conflict in Myanmar