Kachin Independence Army

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The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: Wunpawng Mungdan Shanglawt Hpyen Dap; Burmese: ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), a political group of ethnic Kachins in Northern Myanmar (formerly Burma). The Kachins are a coalition of six tribes whose homeland encompasses territory in China's Yunnan, Northeast India and Kachin State in Myanmar. The Kachin Independence Army is funded by the KIO, which raises money through regional taxes and trade in jade, timber and gold. It is armed with a combination of AK-47s, locally made rifles (such as KA-09) and some artillery. The KIA also makes their own self-neutralizing landmines with roughly a 3-year lifespan. Kachin Independence Army headquarters are in Laiza, in southern Kachin State near the Chinese border. In 2009, before the cease-fire was broken, Thomas Fuller of the New York Times estimated the number of active KIA soldiers at about 4,000. The Myanmar Peace...

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