It seems the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) is continuously flexing it’s military muscles against the Kachin Independence Organization/ Army (KIO/KIA), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and even the People’s Defense Force (PDF) to show who is the boss in northern Shan State, except of course the heavyweight United Wa State Army (UWSA) which it admires and adores as an inspiration.

To date it has chased out the KIA from some 10 liaison offices, frequently at loggerheads with the SSPP which at times heightened and escalated into armed conflict engagement.

In July last year, some TNLA officers and soldiers were killed in shooting by SSPP troops in Kyaukme Township and Hsipaw Township, creating military tensions between the two sides before it subsided after UWSA mediation and intervention. Both are members of the 7-party political alliance Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC).

Row between TNLA and SSPP

Recently, a new tensed row erupted in Möng Mit (in Shan/Tai) or Momeik (in Burmese) Township. According to Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) report of March 26, the TNLA has reportedly sent a protest letter to the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) to come and resolve the issue of shooting with small arms in Möng Mit Township, Shan State.

The incident occurred on March 23 when the Ta’ang (Palaung) National Liberation Army (TNLA) launched a military operation to drive out the SSPP/SSA camp in Man Phai Village, Möng Mit Township, to which the SSPP fired small arms overhead as a warning.

“We (SSPP) fired as a warning and since then, they have retreated. We have not had any talks with them yet. They have retreated, but we are taking a cautious stance,” a military source from the SSPP on the front-line told Shan Herald.

The letter sent by the TNLA also stated that if the SSPP does not resolve the issue of shooting the TNLA soldier with the responsibility of protecting the honor and dignity of the alliance and the organization, the SSPP will be responsible for any future problems. The letter also stated that the TNLA had informed the SSPP troops that they were to move out from the old Mahn Phai Village to another location when the SSPP opened fire with small arms on its troops.

“At present, we have not withdrawn our camp. They are also nearby. The situation is tense,” said the SSPP military source on the front line.

According to Kachin Sub-State Media (KSSM) report on the same issue, on March 24: “Yesterday (March 23, 2025) at around 12:30 pm., TNLA forces came to expel the SSPP from Mahn Phai Village by applying military pressure, and the SSPP fired five (5) rounds as a warning. At 7:20 pm., when the TNLA troops approached, the SSPP/SSA fired six (6) more rounds, forcing the TNLA to retreat towards Moemeik or Möng Mit. In Shan State, the TNLA troops have no right to expel the Shan army, and they have broken the code of alliance,” said a military source in the Möng Mit region of KSSM.

Moreover, a video footage appeared in social media mistreating the KIA troops and also the PDF. The video footage released by KSSM on March 23 showed the TNLA troops arriving in large numbers, applying military pressure, and beating and arresting KIA Southern Command, Battalion (34) under Brigade (4) and the PDF.

From early January 2025 to today (March 23, 2025), TNLA forces have seized (10) camps under military pressure, including the KIO/A Kutkai Liaison Office under the Southern Military Command of the KIO government in northern Shan State, and there have been (3) incidents and locations where the TNLA forces have taken down the Kachin national flag. Due to the territorial dispute between the TNLA and KIA in northern Shan State, TNLA soldiers have been repeatedly besieging, beating, arresting and expelling KIA soldiers. After reports emerged that the KIO government would gather the views of the people in northern Shan State, the TNLA forces have been making more military preparations, and local residents are worried that clashes between the KIA and the TNLA will begin.

However, The Irrawaddy on March 28 reported: “Regarding the TNLA’s letter of notification, SSPP/SSA Captain Thiharaza said that although he was not aware of the exact nature of the incident, he had heard that the TNLA often sends letters of notification regarding friction-grounded issues and that they would resolve them peacefully among themselves.”

TNLA on defensive mode

Myanmar junta troops have seized a village called Melpote and tourist destination just 25 minutes from Nawnghkio town, sparking concerns of a possible offensive on the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)-controlled town of Nawnghkio in northern Shan State, according to The Irrawaddy report of March 27.

“The TNLA and allies, including the Danu People’s Liberation Army (DPLA) and Kyaukme District Special Force, seized Nawnghkio town during the second phase of Operation 1027 in June last year, isolating Taunghkam village – which houses a junta artillery battalion headquarters – for months.”

The regime recaptured Taunghkam, including the artillery battalions in the three nearby villages, after it intensified attacks following the failure of February talks with the TNLA in Kunming, China.

Taunghkam is some 80 kilometers from Pyin Oo Lwin, home to the junta’s elite military academies. Lying at the junction between northern and southern Shan State, it houses Artillery Battalion Headquarters 902 and three artillery battalions.

A military analyst said: “The regime has recaptured all artillery battalions and the headquarters in Taunghkam. The TNLA has withdrawn because defending junta artillery and airstrikes from a fixed position is difficult. However, although regime troops retook the camps, TNLA and DPLA troops have surrounded them in a guerrilla-style operation,” according to The Irrawaddy report.

The TNLA lost of its captured territories was due to the junta’s usage of more advanced drones in groups of reconnaissance flights, attack drones, and heavy artillery bombardment in coordinated offensives, according to the BBC report of March 21, in an interview with former junta’s military officer Captain Zin Yaw, who is now with the resistance and a Civil Disobedience Movement.

Analysis

At this rate, TNLA spreading itself so thin on the vast northern Shan State war theater, especially in Nwanghkio and Mogok, where it is having frictions with the locals for its forced recruitment of the people reportedly for the city’s defense, it may not be easy to hold on to it.

In Taunghkam and Nwanghkio, only the DPLA now seems to be with the TNLA and the Mandalay PDF isn’t participating in defending the territories.

The Kokang or Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) is out of the fight or Operation 1027, and weapon reinforcement through its territories and UWSA could become harder, as China is pressuring both not to let the weapons flow down to TNLA and PDF forces in Mandalay and Sagaing divisions.

Against this backdrop, the TNLA should reexamine its attitude on whether its present mindset is conducive to achieve its people’s aspirations.

Its mindset, even though it is not officially spelled out, judging from what it is implementing on the ground can be taken as adhering to “might is right” dictum; practicing territorial expansionism; and promoting narrow ethno-nationalism.

First, it is firmly of the opinion that captured military installations of the junta equals to the right to retain the territories and own them. It doesn’t matter for the TNLA whether the locals agree to its rule or not, including pushing out the already operating ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in the areas. The friction with the KIA and SSPP are due to such attitude.

Secondly, it openly tried to assert Ta’ang nationalism on non-Ta’ang ethnic groups by destroying their language and cultural heritage, including population transfer of the Ta’ang into non-Ta’ang areas, in TNLA captured territories. It is pure territorial expansionism at the expense of the other ethnic groups.

Third, forsaking democratic and federal principles to achieve largely expanded Ta’ang State area under its jurisdiction is nothing but narrow ethno-nationalism, which is openly contrary to the principles of democracy and federalism.

At the end of the day, the TNLA should take a cue from Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) and Pa-O National Federal Council (PNFC) to walk the path of pursuing its people’s aspirations through political dialogue within the mold of parliamentary system and constitutionally agreed procedure, when the military dictatorship system is out of the picture and has been abolished.