The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has begun organizing a militia group in Hopang Township, northern Shan State to coordinate with its newly established administration there. This comes after the township was seized by the Brotherhood Alliance early this year and subsequently handed over to the UWSA.
U Nyi Rang, the spokesperson of the UWSA, confirmed the move.
“But, organizing militia groups in different areas in our Wa State is a regular routine. This is happening not only in Hopang, but also in other areas in Wa State,” he said.
He also pointed out that though Hopang and Panlong were initially handed over to it by the Brotherhood Alliance, the UWSA has only been able to establish its administration in the towns under an official agreement with the regime. “Otherwise, the town would be bombed!” he said.
A source close to the UWSA, who requested anonymity, also said the ethnic armed group plans to organize a militia in the town. The group intends to recruit several hundred men, aged 18-40.
“It’s about organizing young and middle-aged men to serve their town. We aim to organize and train around a thousand troops, but they won’t have to serve permanently,” the source said.
The Brotherhood Alliance seized Hopang and Panglong in the first week of January. Following the surrender of over 700 junta troops, the alliance—comprising the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—subsequently handed the two towns over to the UWSA.
Although the junta lost the towns to the ethnic alliance, the junta-appointed administrative body of the Wa Self-Administered Division officially ceded control of the two towns to the UWSA a few days after the Alliance handed over de facto control.
“Organizing such a militia group is how the UWSA builds its administration in its territory and is a regular routine they tend to follow,” said a Shan conflict analyst.
He added that since the UWSA is seen as the legitimate administrator of Hopang and Panlong by both the Brotherhood Alliance and the junta, it doesn’t need to worry about external security threats. Instead, it would use the militia to coordinate the establishment of its administration in the township.
“After seizing Lashio, the MNDAA has faced many challenges in establishing its administration. Cases of theft, murder, and other crimes still occur daily in the town, where the rule of law once reigned,” he points out.
That’s why, he added, the UWSA is still willing to establish a strong militia to cooperate with civilian administrative committees in Hopang Township.
Hopang and Panlong are part of the Wa Self-Administered Division under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution but were administered by the national government. The United Wa State Party (UWSP), the political wing of the UWSA, gained control over the two towns without firing a single shot.
“After recruiting young men under 40 to serve in the militia group, the UWSA will not recruit further. And those recruited are not considered members of the UWSA. Instead, separately they will become the founding members of the militia group responsible for the security of Hopang Town,” explained the source close to the UWSA.
However, even before it began organizing young and middle-aged men to establish a militia group in Hopang, the UWSA reportedly began organizing new recruits in Mongton, Lashio and Tangyan to serve in its ethnic army.
The UWSA hasn’t released any statement on these claims or on recruitment issues. However, on Nov. 7 spokesperson U Nyi Rang denied to a Wa-based media outlet the claims that it was recruiting.
Although it has retained a neutral stance and denied involvement in the alliance’s Operation 1027, the USWA is widely believed to have played a huge part in the anti-regime offensive in northern Shan State.
The UWSA is Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed organization (EAO) and controls its own territory—known as Wa State—in northern and southern Shan State. It has an estimated 30,000 soldiers and a sophisticated arsenal of weapons, and maintains close ties with China.
