By Maw Mee Myar/Kantarawaddy Times
The Karenni armed groups fighting the Burmese military regime say they must be unified to come out victorious during the revolution.
”If all the revolutionary armed forces do not work together and aren’t unified, it is the same as ignoring our people,” said Remond Htoo, a member of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) central committee.
An officer of the Demawso People’s Defence Force (DMO-PDF), which is under the command of the interim National Unity Government, said if the leaders formulate a concrete strategy through dialogue and negotiations, they will win the armed struggle against the dictatorship.
An officer from the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) pointed out the challenges they all face in the war against the Burma Army (BA) when different groups fight together. ”We cannot give orders to soldiers from another group during the fighting because they only take orders from their own organisation. Our chain of command is far too complicated and this is a big weakness for everyone.”
The Karenni Revolutionary Union (KRU), which has six armed groups, said it is really difficult to organise the other armed groups on the battlefield because fighting is usually sporadic. “It is easy to talk about unity, but it is more difficult to realise it between all the different groups with different backgrounds and from different regions.”
The KRU, KNDF and all the PDFs were formed a few months after the military overthrew the democratic government. But the KNPP took up the armed struggle over 70 years ago and its armed wing, the Karenni Army, is trying to convince splinter groups to join them in the struggle against the regime.
The groups also face obstacles with insufficient weapons and ammunition during the conflict in Karenni State.
