Kawthoolei Army
| Kawthoolei Army | |
|---|---|
| Leader | General Saw Nerdah Mya[1] – General Officer Commanding (GOC.) Lieutenant General Saw Hsar Gay Po – Vice Chief of Staff (VCS.) |
| Dates of operation | 16 July 2022 – present |
| Split from | Karen National Union |
| Country | Kawthoolei |
| Active regions | Kayin State Mon State Tanintharyi Region Myanmar-Thailand border |
| Ideology | |
| Size | 200+ |
| Allies | All organization which fight against the Burmese Army- no specific agreement regarding politics. |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | Internal conflict in Myanmar |
| Flag | |
The Kawthoolei Army[5][1] (Burmese: ကော်သူးလေ တပ်မတော်; abbr. KTLA) is a militant and separatist group in Myanmar, split from Karen National Union.[6]
The formation of the new militia was announced on 19 July 2022.[7] General Saw Nerdah Bomya, former head of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), had been removed from his KNDO position after allegations that his KNDO troops killed 25 suspected Burmese military spies in southern Karen State.[8]
In April 2023, the KTLA launched an offensive against the Kayin State BGF in Shwe Kokko, forcing over 10,000 people to flee into Thailand.[9] On 21 May, the KTLA, alongside other anti-junta forces, launched offensives against the Tatmadaw's "Plato" and Maw Khee camps, south of Myawaddy.[10]
The KTLA is reportedly associated with an Italian neo-fascist group CasaPound through the group "Popoli Onlus Solidarity Community".[11]
According to the Bangkok Post, the KTLA claims to control a 40km-long pipeline owned by PTT Exploration and Production that transports gas from Myanmar into Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province. The KTLA is reportedly considering either shutting down or destroying the pipeline.[12]
On 5 January 2026, the KTLA declared independence from Myanmar and the formation of the Kawthoolei Republic as a sovereign state. The KTLA cited rights to self-determination and "collapse of the central Burmese government" as the reason behind the declaration.[13] The Karen National Union dismissed the declaration as a publicity stunt stating that the KTLA controls no territory and does not represent the Karen people.[14]
References
- ^ a b "Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Artillery, Gunships Attack Villages in Karen State". The Irrawaddy. 25 January 2023. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023.
- ^ Italian classical fascist group CasaPound portrayed itself as NGO and trying to mislead Karen National Union Libcom.org August 12, 2024. Hein Htet Kyaw
- ^ How Italian fascists seduced liberation fighters in Myanmar. August 15, 2024. Hein Htet Kyaw.
- ^ "Into the lion's den: The failed attack on Shwe Kokko". Frontier Myanmar. 11 May 2023. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
- ^ "On Karen Revolution Day the Kawthoolei Army released 5 detained policemen in Myawaddy Karen state". Karen News. 4 February 2023. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023.
- ^ "Kawthoolei Army: How a broken system and a disrespect for the rules of law in the KNU gave birth to another armed group in Karen State". KIC News. 2 August 2022.
- ^ "သုးခိၣ်ကျၢၢ်ဖိစီၤနၢၤဒါမၠးတီခိၣ်ရိၣ်မဲဒုးအိၣ်ထီၣ် ကီၢ်သူလ့ၤသုးမုၢ်ဒိၣ်". Karen News. 20 July 2022.
- ^ "Kawthoolei Army: How a broken system and a disrespect for the rules of law in the KNU gave birth to another armed group in Karen State". Karen News. 2 August 2022.
- ^ "Into the lion's den: The failed attack on Shwe Kokko". Frontier Myanmar. 11 May 2023. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
- ^ "KTLA joint forces attack the military council Plato and Mawkhi camp". Democratic Voice of Burma (in Burmese). 22 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
- ^ "Italian classical fascist group CasaPound portrayed itself as NGO and trying to mislead Karen National Union". Libcom.org. 11 May 2023. Archived from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
- ^ Thai gas pipeline under threat from Myanmar rebels. 9 August 2025.
- ^ "กอทูเล ประกาศฝันรัฐเอกราช ประเทศใหม่บนแผนที่โลก?" [Kawthoolei declares dream of sovereign state: a new country on the world map?]. Thairath (in Thai). 8 January 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ "KNU dismisses KTLA's Kawthoolei declaration as 'nonsense', analysts see publicity stunt". Trans Border News. 7 January 2026.