Myanmar poet turned rebel leader seeks new territory; worries about ‘ephemeral revolutionaries’

FROM BB GUNS TO AK-81s

The BPLA was founded two months after the coup in Myanmar’s borderlands, with Maung Saungkha seeking training and support from ethnic armed organisations that have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy.

At first, the BPLA only had wooden guns and BB guns to train with, but today they own some M16 rifles and AK-81s and borrow other weapons from allies, according to Maung Saungkha.

The BPLA works closely with the Karen National Union (KNU), on whose territory it is based, and the Arakan Army (AA) which provided training, he said.

Both groups confirmed the BPLA was fighting alongside their troops.

Resistance forces have inflicted significant damage on the junta and gained territory, said Nicola Williams, an analyst at the Australian National University’s Myanmar Research Centre.

But, to have greater impact, they need to move “beyond creating confusion and disorder” in urban areas and work together to seize strategic sites, she said, adding that their efforts were impeded by competition between armed groups for weapons and resources.

Brigadier General Nyo Tun Aung, the AA’s deputy commander-in-chief, said in a letter to Reuters that Maung Saungkha has built “good and close relationships” with leaders of “ethnic revolutionary organisations”.

The BPLA had earned support by developing “the same revolutionary heartbeat”, Nyo Tun Aung wrote.

Yoe Aunt Min said the many militias operating in Bamar-majority areas meant the BPLA couldn’t easily become active there but it had several options.

In addition to reaching out to work with PDF troops, it could send in small drone-operating units, she said.

“We’ve also received requests to train others, so we might start off as trainers,” she added.

FUNDING AND MORALE PROBLEMS

Although the BPLA has support from allies for food and other supplies, Maung Saungkha said that funding is a constant concern.

Some armed ethnic groups have long relied on drug trafficking for funds, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. But the BPLA says its only independent financing comes from donations, sales of BPLA-branded hoodies and merchandise, and Maung Saungkha’s poetry books. Reuters was not able to independently confirm this.

By contrast, China and Russia arm the junta, according to the UN, which has accused Myanmar’s military rulers of being responsible for arbitrary airstrikes, mass killings and extra-judicial executions. The junta has said that it is carrying out legitimate operations against “terrorists”.

Some soldiers have run away, homesick, bored and tired after two years of war, said Maung Saungkha, who declined to disclose how many members are in his group.

“This year, ephemeral revolutionaries will rush home … now it’s just the qualifying stage. There are still many battles ahead,” he said.