Karen National Union

Common card · No. 298948

The Karen National Union (Burmese: ကရင် အမျိုးသား အစည်းအရုံး; abbreviated KNU) is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), that represents the Karen people of Myanmar. It operates in mountainous eastern Myanmar and has underground networks in other areas of Myanmar where Karen people live as a minority group. Some of the Karen, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war against the central government since early 1949. The aim of the KNU at first was independence. Since 1976, the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State. The Karen conflict is the second longest internal war in the world after the Dagohoy rebellion in the Philippines, having been waged for 85 years until 1829. In 2025, the Myanmar military junta designated the KNU as a terrorist organization.

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