External links
- "Kanbalu, Burma"
- "Kanbalu Map — Satellite Images of Kanbalu" Maplandia.com
23°12′14″N95°30′55″E / 23.20389°N 95.51528°E
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Kanbalu (also spelt Kantbalu [1] ) is a town in Shwebo District, Sagaing Division, in Myanmar. Located in the north-western part of the county, the town is the administrative seat for Kanbalu Township. Kanbalu is on the main Burmese north-south railroad between Sagaing and Myitkyina. [1] As of 2014, it had a population of 25,022 [2]
Its railyards were bombed by the Allies during World War II. [3] During the Myanmar Civil War, it was attacked by resistance forces, who torched the local police station. [4]
Following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, an ultranationalist monk U Wasawa established a Pyusawhti militia in Hmaw Taw village to launch offensives against the region's People's Defense Force. Several villages in Kantbalu have been turned into Pyusawhti bases, with U Warthawa reportedly forcing locals to join the militias. Initially armed with homemade weapons, around 900 Pyusawhti members in Kantbalu have since been supplied with modern BA-63 (G-3) rifles, MA-1 assault rifles, and carbines. His influence has spread to Kanbalu township, Taze, and Kyunhla—key towns known for their military and Union Solidarity and Development Party support. [5]
The military-run Myanmar Economic Corporation operates two factories, manufacturing sugar and menthol, in Kantbalu. [6] The sugar factory is a joint venture with Thai-owned Sutech Engineering. [7] Kanbalu is also home to the 30 megawatts (40,000 hp) Thaphanseik hydropower plant on the Mu River, a $20-million project financed by the China Import and Export Bank. [8]
23°12′14″N95°30′55″E / 23.20389°N 95.51528°E
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The Tatmadaw or Sit-Tat is the armed forces of Myanmar. It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the Myanmar Police Force, the Border Guard Forces, the Myanmar Coast Guard, and the People's Militia Units. Since independence in 1948, the Tatmadaw has faced significant ethnic insurgencies, especially in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, and Shan states. General Ne Win took control of the country in a 1962 coup d'état, attempting to build an autarkic society called the Burmese Way to Socialism. Following the violent repression of nationwide protests in 1988, the military agreed to free elections in 1990, but ignored the resulting victory of the National League for Democracy and imprisoned its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The 1990s also saw the escalation of the conflict involving Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State due to RSO attacks on the Tatmadaw forces, which saw the Rohingya minority facing oppression and, starting in 2017, genocide.
Sagaing Region is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is bordered by India's Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh states to the north, Kachin State, Shan State, and Mandalay Region to the east, Mandalay Region and Magway Region to the south, with the Ayeyarwady River forming a greater part of its eastern and also southern boundary, and Chin State and India to the west. The region has an area of 93,527 square kilometres (36,111 sq mi). In 1996, it had a population of over 5,300,000 while its population in 2012 was 6,600,000. The urban population in 2012 was 1,230,000 and the rural population 5,360,000. The capital city and the largest city of Sagaing Region is Monywa.
The Karen National Liberation Army is the military branch of the Karen National Union (KNU), which campaigns for the self-determination of the Karen people of Myanmar. The KNLA has been fighting the Burmese government since 1960s as part of the Karen conflict, which has been ongoing since 1949.
The Burmese Resistance Movement of 1885–1895 occurred almost immediately after the fall of Mandalay. Due to the rapidity of British advancement up the Irrawaddy River, the bulk of the Burmese army suffered few casualties. Many had not experienced actual fighting. Nevertheless, the issue of the Hluttaw’s order to surrender on 27 November 1885 meant that Burmese garrisons south of Mandalay had to disarm without putting up a fight. Soon widespread resistance started to break out in Upper Burma, Lower Burma, the Shan Hills, Kachin Hills and Chin Hills which did not die out until 1896.
"To all town and village thugyis, heads of cavalry, heads of the daings, shield bearers, heads of jails, heads of gold and silver revenues, mine workers, settlement officers, heads of forests, and to all royal subjects and inhabitants of the Royal Empire: Those heretics, the English kala barbarians, having most harshly made demands calculated to bring about the impairment and destruction of our religion, the violation of our national traditions and customs, and the degradation of our race, are making a show and preparation as if about to wage war with our State ... The local officials shall not forcibly impress into service anyone who may not wish to serve. To uphold the religion, to uphold the national honour, to uphold the country's interests, will bring about threefold good; good of our religion, good of our master, and good of ourselves; and will gain for us the important result of placing us in the path to the celestial regions and to Nibban. Whoever, therefore, is willing to join and serve zealously will be assisted by His Majesty with royal rewards and royal money, and be made to serve in the capacity for which he may be fit. Loyal officials are to make inquiries for volunteers and others who may wish to serve, and are to submit lists of them to their respective Governments."
The Pa-O National Army is a Pa-O state sponsored militia in Myanmar (Burma). It was established in 1949 and is the armed wing of the Pa-O National Organisation.
The People's Defence Force is the armed wing of the National Unity Government in Myanmar. The armed wing was formed by the NUG from youths and pro-democracy activists on 5 May 2021 in response to the coup d'état that occurred on 1 February 2021 that put the military junta and their armed wing the Tatmadaw in power. The military junta designated it as a terrorist organisation on 8 May 2021. In October 2021, NUG's Ministry of Defence announced that it had formed a central committee to coordinate military operations across the country.
The Myanmar Civil War, also known as the Burmese Civil War, Burmese Spring Revolution, or People's Defensive War, is an ongoing civil war following Myanmar's long-running insurgencies, which escalated significantly in response to the 2021 military coup d'état and the subsequent violent crackdown on anti-coup protests. The exiled National Unity Government and major ethnic armed organisations repudiated the 2008 Constitution and called instead for a democratic federal state. Besides engaging this alliance, the ruling government of the State Administration Council, or SAC, also contends with other anti-SAC forces in areas under its control. Hannah Beech of The New York Times observed the insurgents are apportioned into hundreds of armed groups scattered across the country.
The Chinland Defense Force is a rebel group in Myanmar. It was formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état to protect Chin State from the military junta. The CDF claims that they do not attack the military without cause and that they always issue a warning, such as releasing detainees and refraining from using violence against civilians. If the military does not respond, guerrilla or other action follows. They promise to return their weapons and disband if the revolution is successful. CDFs are members of CJDC. Chinland Joint Defense Committee (CJDC) is formed to serve Chin people's security services and protect an enemy from the illegal Myanmar Army. The total strength of active personnel under the command of CJDC is approximated to be around 15,000. From August to October 2021, it was reported that at least 40 clashes occurred between junta troops and CDF in various townships. CJDC claimed that at least 1,029 Tatmadaw soldiers were killed in the clashes and lost 58 of their own in 2021.
The Myanmar Royal Dragon Army, also known as Myanmar's Royal Dragon Army, was an armed resistance organisation based in Pale Township, Sagaing Region. It was founded on 1 January 2022 by its leader, Bo Nagar, and was under the command of the National Unity Government. The Myanmar Royal Dragon Army was reformed and renamed as the Burma National Revolutionary Army on September 9, 2023.
Events in the year 2022 in Myanmar.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), following the 2021 military coup d'état and protests. It was also a renewed intensity in existing internal conflict in Myanmar.
This is the list of important events happened in Myanmar in 2023.
The Mon Taing Pin massacre was a mass killing of civilians by Burmese military forces on 11 May 2022, in the village of Mondaingbin, Sagaing Region, Myanmar. During the massacre, Myanmar Army troops executed at least 37 villagers. Sagaing Region later became the site of several additional mass killings perpetrated by the Burmese military, including the Letyetkon and Tadaing massacres.
Pyusawhti militias refers to three distinct groups of pro-military militias in Myanmar. The term was first used in 1955, when U Nu's government created Pyusawhti paramilitary units to assist the military with counterinsurgency operations. After a coup in 1958, the army tried to disband them, as they had become loyal to local ruling-party politicians. However, their attempt was not completely successful.
On 11 April 2023, the Myanmar Air Force massacred at least 165 people in the village of Pazigyi, Kantbalu Township, which is located 92 miles (148 km) west of Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city. The air force used fighter jets and helicopters to attack a large crowd of people gathering for the opening of a local office of an opposition movement. The Pazigyi attack was the junta's deadliest attack since seizing power in the 2021 coup d'état.
Since the beginning of the Myanmar civil war in 2021, the village of Khin-U and other surrounding settlements been attacked several times by groups associated with the ruling State Administration Council. As a result of the attacks, primarily conducted via artillery strikes and burnings of settlements, thousands have homes have been destroyed and thousands of local residents have been displaced.
The military of Myanmar (Tatmadaw) and its allies have committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 2021–present Myanmar civil war.
The Dry Zone theater, also known as the Anyar theater, is one of the theaters of the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), taking place in Myanmar's Dry Zone region which encompasses the Bamar-majority Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions. It has been described as the "prime center" of resistance against the junta.
The Battle of Taze is an ongoing engagement between the Myanmar SAC junta and anti-military forces in Taze Township, Sagaing Region.
U Wasawa, also known as 550 Sayadaw, is a Burmese ultranationalist monk and pro-military supporter who leads a Pyusawhti militia in Kanbalu. Local media have referred to him as a "Buddhist terrorist".