The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) is the military branch of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) in Myanmar, also known as Burma. TNLA salient points are as follows: Operating mostly in the northern Shan State of Myanmar, the TNLA is a non-state armed organization. The Ta’ang (Palaung) ethnic group’s rights and self-determination are the TNLA’s primary goals. The TNLA is well-known for its efforts to destroy meth labs, heroin refineries, and poppy fields as part of its opposition to the drug trade. In an effort to stop the drug trade, they also assert that they routinely apprehend opium traffickers and publicly burn any drugs that are found.

Armed conflicts between the TNLA and the Tatmadaw, the military of Myanmar, and other ethnic armed groups have occurred. The Brotherhood Alliance, a confederation of armed ethnic groups in Myanmar, includes the TNLA. The local populace and Myanmar’s political climate as a whole have been greatly impacted by the TNLA’s operations and actions. The Palaung State Liberation Organization/Army (PSLO/A), which was established in 1991 and disbanded in 2005, was the precursor organization of the TNLA. Leaders of the Ta’ang (Palaung) people Tar Aik Bong and Tar Bone Kyaw established the TNLA with the PSLF following the dissolution of the PSLO/A in order to carry on the Ta’ang people’s struggle for self-determination. The TNLA has been waging operations in northern Shan State in alliance with the Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Army – North.