UWSA stops arming and financing armed groups
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Phyo (NP News) - August 24
Officials from the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) met in Panghsang, Wa News Land reported on August 20, citing a statement from the Wa news outlet WSTV.
At the meeting, Zhao Guoan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the "Wa" group and deputy chairman, first informed the MNTJP/MNDAA, PSLF/TNLA, and SSPP/SSA who were attending the meeting about the current war and unrest, and reported on the "Wa" group's final decision, and delivered a speech.
The meeting was attended by senior representatives of all three ethnic armed groups, the MNDAA, TNLA, and SSPP, and the UWSA announced its official military decisions to the delegations.
At the meeting, Zhao Guoan stated that before officially announcing the group’s important decision, he wished to first inform, on behalf of the Wa group, their brothers and sisters about the group’s stance on peace and the extremely serious situation it is currently facing. He explained that the Wa group would no longer provide any weapons or equipment, nor would it offer financial assistance to any organization for any reason, at any time, or in any place, whether to facilitate military operations or otherwise. He further said that this decision would soon be officially announced to the public, and urged organizations to refrain from troubling the Wa group with requests for weapons, equipment, financial aid, or similar matters.
Representatives of the MNDAA, TNLA, and SSPP also expressed their understanding of the UWSA's official military decision, said Wa News Land, quoting a WSTV statement.
The TNLA and MNDAA, which are fighting in northern Shan State, may soon end their wars, said U Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategy Studies, as the UWSA has stopped providing support.
“Because their weapons have been depleted, armed groups, no matter how much they resist, cannot match a state-level organization in terms of weapons, manpower, and finances. Eventually, they will have to stop. Once they exhaust their available resources, their momentum will collapse. The truth is that as soon as ‘Wa’ withdraws its support, their operational capacity has already significantly weakened. While they continue to spread propaganda through the media, their ability to take real action has practically disappeared. Now that ‘Wa’ has made its withdrawal public, their ability to continue operations is extremely limited,” he said. –