People's Liberation Army (Myanmar)

Not to be confused with the Bamar People's Liberation Army. For other uses, see People's Liberation Army (disambiguation).

People's Liberation Army
ပြည်သူ့လွတ်မြောက်ရေးတပ်မတော်
Also known asPLA
LeaderNi Ni Kyaw (general secretary)
FoundationAugust 2021 (2021-08)
CountryMyanmar (Burma)
AllegianceCommunist Party of Burma
Active regions
Ideology
Size1,000 troops (2023)
Allies
Opponents Myanmar (SAC)
Battles and warsMyanmar conflict

The People's Liberation Army (abbr. PLA; Burmese: ပြည်သူ့လွတ်မြောက်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a communist rebel group in Myanmar. It is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of Burma, whose cadres rearmed themselves after the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) overthrew the civilian government in 2021.

"People's Liberation Army" was also the name of the Communist Party of Burma's first armed wing, which was named after the People's Liberation Army of China.

History

Predecessors

The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) waged an insurgency, primarily in Shan State, from 1948 to 1989. At the beginning, the party's armed wing was named the People's Liberation Army (PLA), homonymous with the People's Liberation Army of China founded around the same time.[3] In September 1950, the PLA merged with regiments of the Revolutionary Burma Army commanded by the communist Bo Zeya, and formed the People's Army.[3] The People's Army was disbanded after a 1989 mutiny which forced the CPB's leaders into exile in China.[4][5] The MNDAA and United Wa State Army formed from these splits.[6][7]

2021 refoundation

The Tatmadaw deposed the democratically elected members of Myanmar's civilian government in a coup d'état on 1 February 2021, and established a junta named the State Administration Council (SAC). The CPB subsequently released a statement on the same day, condemning the coup and calling for a united front against the Tatmadaw.[8]

CPB cadres reentered Myanmar through the country's border with China in March 2021. Five months later in August 2021, the CPB announced that it had rearmed itself and established a new armed wing to wage a people's war against the SAC. The party chose the PLA name as a call back to their previous armed resistance.[9][10] The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) provided the PLA troops with their initial supply of weapons and equipment.[9]

The PLA claimed in 2023 to have an active force of 1,000 troops. At that time, it was fighting alongside the People's Defence Force in Tanintharyi Region.[1]

From July to September 2024, the PLA allowed 138 elephants and their human handlers to take refuge in its camp near Mandalay. The handlers had fled from junta-run timber camps, where the elephants were used to transport logs through dense jungle. The PLA stated that it intended to protect the elephants from traffickers and the handlers from the Tatmadaw until the junta is overthrown.[11][12]

In a 2025 interview with the Democratic Voice of Burma, PLA general secretary Ni Ni Kyaw stated that the PLA was reconstituted to "eliminate fascists [and the] military dictatorship, and to liberate all groups of Myanmar people from oppression".[13] She noted that the PLA was fighting in numerous areas, including northern Shan State and the Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Tanintharyi regions.[13]

On 10 June 2025, the PLA shot down a junta fighter jet during the battle for Kan Dauk police station in Pale Township, Sagaing Region, the 10th such shooting down since 2021.[14] By 19 June, the PLA had taken the village and pushed out junta forces.[15]

Ideology

Like its mother party, the PLA adheres to Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. The PLA opposes ethnonationalism and separatism, arguing that Myanmar should be united as a federal state with autonomous regions reserved for the country's ethnic minorities.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c Thar, Hein (11 December 2023). "Red dawn: Myanmar's reborn communist army". Frontier Myanmar. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Operation 1027 reshapes Myanmar's post-coup war". Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Martin (1991). Burma: Insurgency and the politics of ethnicity (1st ed.). London and New Jersey: Zed Books. ISBN 0862328683 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Tha, Kyaw Pho (3 October 2013). "The Demise of a Once Powerful Communist Party—Now in Burmese". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  5. ^ Lintner, Bertil (1990). The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University. p. 1. ISBN 0877271232.
  6. ^ Xiao Min Liang: The Architect of UWSA Politics. Aik Long. 17 November 2023. Transnational Institute.
  7. ^ South, Ashley (2008). Ethnic politics in Burma: states of conflict. Taylor & Francis. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-203-89519-1.
  8. ^ "လတ်တလောအခြေအနေနဲ့ပတ်သက်လို့ ဗမာပြည်ကွန်မြူနစ်ပါတီရဲ့ သဘောထား ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်" [Statement of the Communist Party of Burma regarding the current situation] (in Burmese). Communist Party of Burma. 31 January 2021. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Communist Party of Burma declares People's War against the junta government". Workers Today. 7 November 2021. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021.
  10. ^ Bociaga, Robert (24 November 2021). "Myanmar's Army Is Fighting a Multi-Front War". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  11. ^ Reh, Saw (4 September 2024). "Armed wing of Myanmar's Communist Party seizes 138 elephants from junta". Myanmar Now. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  12. ^ "Communist rebels take in more than 130 of Myanmar's treasured elephants as fighting rages on". Agence France-Presse. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024 – via ABC News (Australia).
  13. ^ a b Ni Ni Kyaw (20 March 2025). "A Q&A with People's Liberation Army General Secretary Ni Ni Kyaw". Democratic Voice of Burma (Interview). Interviewed by DVB English Team. Retrieved 10 April 2025.{{cite interview}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  14. ^ https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmar-junta-fighter-jet-shot-down-in-sagaing-battle-pla.html
  15. ^ https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-resistance-forces-capture-key-junta-position-in-sagaings-pale-township/?tztc=1
  16. ^ Christopher, Michael (12 May 2023). "'We don't want to be slaves': Meet the People's Liberation Army of Burma". People's World. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023.
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