Burma-Myanmar: Burma army raids Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) base
The Burma Army has seized two guns and a handheld transceiver from a Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) base on Thursday afternoon in Kyaikmayaw Township, Mon State.
This was a surprise raid in what has been, over the last twenty years, a zone of largely quiet coexistence between the Burma Army and the non-state ethnic armed group.
The annual collection of “donations” by the MNLA from local residents had contributed to recent tensions with the Burma Army, but a formal link with the raid has not been established.
Nai Hong Sar Bong Khaing, a spokesperson from the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the political wing of the MNLA, told The Irrawaddy: “They raided our base and took one AK 47 assault rifle, one 9mm pistol and one walkie-talkie. But they did not detain our members.”