ConflictBarometer_2016

ASIA AND OCEANIA
mer vice president, was convicted on June 9 to 15 years of
prison for masterminding last year's alleged attempted assassination
of the president. On February 12, AP's Sheikh Imran
Abdullah was sentenced to a 12-year imprisonment by
a criminal court, while arrest warrants were issued against
MOU leaders Mohamed Nasheen, Mohamed Jameel Ahmed,
and Akram Kamaldeen. In the course of the year, the UN,
USA, India, and several European countries continued to criticize
the developments in the Maldives and undertook efforts
for multi-party talks between the government and the opposition.
On September 23, the Commonwealth threatened to
suspend the Maldives from the organization in case the multiparty
talks did not take place. In protest against the Commonwealth
accusing the Maldives of abusing human rights, the
Maldives left the Commonwealth on October 13.
twe
MYANMAR (KIA, KIO /KACHIN STATE)
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 1961
(UNFC)].
After the conference, Tatmadaw operations against KIA
brigades in Kachin and Shan States intensified. On September
16, Tatmadaw launched artillery and airstrikes in a weeklong
offensive against KIA around the town of Lazia, leaving
several civilians dead. On October 1, KIA and Tatmadaw
forces clashed in Muse township, Shan State. Two days later,
approx. 10,000 protesters in the Kachin capital Myitkyina
demanded an end to the conflict. From October 7 to 10, Tatmadaw
launched air strikes on several KIA outposts in Kachin.
The KIO called on the government to end the offensive.
On November 20, the four ethnic-based armed groups KIA,
Ta'ang National Liberation Army, Myanmar National Democratic
Alliance Army, and Arakan Army formed the Northern
Alliance (NA), operating in Kachin and Shan States. The NA
launched a joint offensive against Tatmadaw troops in northern
Shan State attacking several police and military posts,
leaving at least 14 people dead, 50 injured, and more than
5,400 displaced [→ Myanmar (TNLA / Shan State)].
nwu
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
KIA, KIO vs. government
autonomy, resources
MYANMAR (KNU, KNLA, DKBA ET AL. / KAREN
STATE, KAYAH STATE)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1948
The limited war over autonomy and resources such as jade,
ruby, farmland, and timber between the Kachin Independence
Organization (KIO) and its military wing Kachin Independence
Army (KIA), on the one hand, and the government,
on the other, continued.
Throughout the year, numerous clashes between both sides
took place in Kachin State, intensifying in October, leaving at
least 63 people dead, hundreds injured, and more than 6,900
civilians internally displaced.
For example, on July 1, six landmines exploded around Lazia,
targeting two Tatmadaw supply battalions. Subsequently,
Tatmadaw forces attacked the KIA headquarters in Lazia with
artillery fire. On July 28, KIA and Tatmadaw forces clashed
twice at Hopong Mountain in northern Shan State with the
Tatmadaw using artillery, leaving several dead on both sides.
After the Tatmadaw crackdown on illegal mining in Hpakant in
early August, KIA and Tatmadaw clashed for one week, leaving
approx. 1,000 villagers displaced. On August 7, KIA attacked
Tatmadaw forces in avillage close to Lazia, leaving several
soldiers dead. The day after, KIA troops ambushed an army
convoy in Kachin, killing several soldiers as well as at least
two KIA troops, wounding eight policemen, and destroying
two vehicles.
In the meantime, peace negotiations between the New
League for Democracy-led government and non-signatory
groups continued. From August 31 to September 3, the 21st
Century Panglong Conference was held in the capital Naypyidaw,
constituting an attempt to include and engage all ethnicbased
armed groups into ongoing negotiations and political
dialog, including the non-signatories KIA/KIO [→ Myanmar
151
Conflict parties: KNU, KNLA, DKBA, DKBA-splinter
group vs. government
Conflict items: autonomy
The violent conflict over autonomy between the Karen National
Union (KNU), its armed wing the Karen National Liberation
Army (KNLA), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army
(DKBA), and the newly-founded Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army, on the one hand, and the government with its supporters,
the Border Guard Forces (BGF), on the other, continued.
KNU, KNLA, and DKBA had signed the Nationwide Ceasefire
Agreement (NCA) on 15/10/15. In late 2015, a group of militants
had split from the DKBA, refusing to acknowledge the
DKBA's signature to the NCA. They aimed to continue the
armed fight for the Karen people's autonomy. After DKBA
had expelled the group's leaders, the splinter group declared
themselves independent under the name Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (splinter group) on January 16.
Ten days later, approx. 100 splinter group fighters fired artillery
shells on an army base near Kaw Moo village, Kawkareik
township, wounding two BGF soldiers. Later that day, a joint
force of the BGF and the army, called Tatmadaw, allegedly
burned down at least ten houses in Pyar Pin village, Kawkareik
township, targeting the homes of splinter group leaders and
leaving hundreds internally displaced. After a failed, joint attack
of the BGF and Tatmadaw on the house of one of the
splinter group's leaders in Pyabin village, Kawkareik, on May
11, the DKBA confirmed his death on August 30. One of the
five elephant mahouts he had allegedly held ransom, stabbed
him with a machete. On September 2, the splinter group
reportedly clashed four times at several BGF bases in Mae
Tha Wor area, Karen State. The BGF used heavy artillery and
the splinter group planted landmines. Subsequently, the BGF