FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

The Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA) founder and leader, Maung Saungkha, is seeking a base for his resistance group to fight against the military regime, Reuters reported. “For an army formed from Bamar people, it’s an important part of our vision to be based in a Bamar region and to be active there,” he said. The BPLA claims to represent the Bamar, which is the majority ethnic group in Burma.

Maung Saungkha told Reuters that he seeks to work with the People’s Defense Force (PDF). The BPLA has received training from the Arakan Army (AA) and Karen National Union (KNU) in an area of the country under KNU control. Maung Saungkha was a poet and human rights activist prior to the 2021 military coup. In April 2021, he formed the BPLA with 16 others. Maung Saungkha told DVB last May that he seeks to eradicate military dictatorship and establish a federal democratic union with a Bamar state. The Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP-Myanmar) estimates that the BPLA has around 1,000 troops.