Kawthoolei Army

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Not to be confused with the Kawthoolei Armed Forces.
Kawthoolei Army
ကော်သူးလေတပ်မတော်
LeaderGeneral Saw Nerdah Mya[1] - General Officer Commanding (GOC.) Lieutenant General Saw Hsar Gay Po - Vice Chief of Staff (VCS.)
Dates of operation16 July 2022 (2022-07-16) – present
Active regionsKayin State
Mon State
Tanintharyi Region
Myanmar-Thailand border
IdeologyKaren nationalism
Right of
Self-determination Independence
Size200+
AlliesAll organization which fight against the Burmese Army- no specific agreement regarding politics. People's Liberation Army
Opponents Myanmar (SAC)
Battles and warsInternal conflict in Myanmar
Flag

The Kawthoolei Army[3][1] (Burmese: ကော်သူးလေ တပ်မတော်; abbr. KTLA) is a militant and separatist group in Myanmar, split from Karen National Union.[4] The formation of the new militia was announced on July 19, 2022.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] On 21 May, the KTLA, alongside other anti-junta forces, launched offensives against the Tatmadaw's "Plato" and Maw Khee camps, south of Myawaddy.[8]

The KTLA is reportedly associated with an Italian neo-fascist group Casa Pound through the group "Popoli Onlus Solidarity Community".[9]

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.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Artillery, Gunships Attack Villages in Karen State". The Irrawaddy. 2023-01-25. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023.
  2. ^ "Into the lion's den: The failed attack on Shwe Kokko". Frontier Myanmar. 2023-05-11. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  3. ^ "On Karen Revolution Day the Kawthoolei Army released 5 detained policemen in Myawaddy Karen state". Karen News. 2023-02-04. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "သုးခိၣ်ကျၢၢ်ဖိစီၤနၢၤဒါမၠးတီခိၣ်ရိၣ်မဲဒုးအိၣ်ထီၣ် ကီၢ်သူလ့ၤသုးမုၢ်ဒိၣ်". Karen News. 20 July 2022.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "Into the lion's den: The failed attack on Shwe Kokko". Frontier Myanmar. 2023-05-11. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  8. ^ "KTLA joint forces attack the military council Plato and Mawkhi camp". Democratic Voice of Burma (in Burmese). 22 May 2025. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  9. ^ "Italian classical fascist group CasaPound portrayed itself as NGO and trying to mislead Karen National Union". Libcom.org. 2023-05-11. Archived from the original on April 28, 2025. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
  10. ^ Thai gas pipeline under threat from Myanmar rebels. August 9, 2025.
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