MNLA gears up for conflict

By IMNA:

IMNA has received reports that New Mon State Party (NMSP) leaders at headquarters in Moulmein District, Tavoy District, and Thaton District are ordering retired Mon National Liberation Army soldiers in each district out of retirement, with the aim of bolstering the force’s numbers in preparation for a potential conflict with the Burmese army.

MNLA preparations reportedly began immediately after NMSP leaders announced that the party had refused to turn the MNLA into a government-controlled “people’s militia group” or “Border Guard Force”, despite threats from the State Peace and Development Council) SPDC commanders that such a move would end the 15-year ceasefire agreement between the two parties.

NMSP leaders reportedly ordered retired MNLA members to return to their headquarters by April 28th, the date by which the SPDC’s Southeast Command was expected to release the Burmese government’s response to the NMSP’s refusal. Despite widespread speculation, however, the Southeast Command has yet to respond in any conclusively violent manner to the news.

A NMSP member in Moulmein told IMNA, “They [the NMSP] called their old army members to go back into their battalions and ordered their members to be prepared for fighting, if the SPDC enter their areas [in Moulmein, Tavoy or Thaton Districts]”.

According to IMNA’s field reporters, newly un-retired MNLA soldiers at all three districts’ offices have been seen performing military drills, donning official MNLA uniforms, and standing sentry duty around district offices.

A second Moulmein-based NMSP member told IMNA, “We had known that army members would be called back [to party headquarters], but we did not know that it would happen so fast.”

NMSP spokesman Nai Chay Mon reported IMNA during the party’s press conference on April 22nd that party members living with their families near NMSP offices in party-controlled territory have begun to move to safer locations, and that MNLA battalions are expected to “defend themselves” if provoked by the Burmese military.

When IMNA wrote on concerns over SPDC pressure on the `BGF issue on September 10th, 2009, the party’s website reported that the MNLA force comprised of roughly 350 members, down from 7860 at the time of the party’s ceasefire agreement in 1995. Current MNLA numbers are unavailable, but membership is expected to rise dramatically due to rise due to the recent recruitment of retired members.