Kuki-Chin National Front | |
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Abbreviation | KNF |
Leader | Nathan Bom |
Chief Coordinator | Cheosim Bom [1] (POW) |
Founder | Nathan Bom |
Founded | 2008 (as Kuki-Chin National Development Organization) 2017 (current form) |
Headquarters | Chin state, Myanmar |
Armed wing | Kuki-Chin National Army |
Ideology | Autonomy demands [2] [3] Anti-Chakma sentiment [2] [3] [4] Anti-Marma sentiment [3] [2] Anti-Tripuri sentiment [3] Kuki-Chin interests [3] |
Slogan | "Nehnak Chu Lalpa Ta" |
Party flag | |
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Website | |
Kuki-Chin National Front - KNF Facebook [a] | |
^ a: KNF has no official website, but it maintains an official facebook page where it updates about its activities. |
The Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), also known as the Bom Party, [5] is a banned ethno-nationalist armed militant political organization in Bangladesh based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Established by Nathan Bom in 2008, KNF aims to establish a separate autonomous or independent state for Bawm, Pangkhua, Lushai, Khumi, Mru & Khiang peoples with nine subdistricts (upazilas) of Rangamati and Bandarban districts. [5] [6] The Front has an armed wing called Kuki-Chin National Army. According to Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies, Kuki-Chin National Front has received weapons from Kachin State in Myanmar, [7] and also has ties with Karen rebels. [8]
Kuki-Chin National Front was established in 2017 by members of the Bawm people in Bangladesh with two thousand personnel. [7] The Bawm community is mostly Christian and accuses the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti of discrimination. [7] The founding president of the Kuki-Chin National Front is Nathan Bom, a graduate of fine arts from the University of Dhaka. [7] He was previously involved with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti's student wing, the Pahari Chhatra Parishad, and founded the Kuki-Chin National Development Organization in 2008 and renamed to Kuki-Chin National Volunteers (KNV) in 2016. [7] [5] KNV developed relations with the rebels of the Manipur state of India and Chin state of Myanmar. [3] In the first batch of KNV fighters, over a hundred members of the organization were sent to Manipur for training, followed by 100 members to be sent to India's Manipur and Myanmar's Karen and Kachin states. [3] The Kuki-Chin National Volunteers would become the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) in 2020. [5]
In June 2022, the Kuki-Chin National Front attacked a camp of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, killing three in Belaichhari Upazila, Rangamati District. [9] In October, tourists were sent back from Bandarban District in preparation for an operation by Bangladesh Army and other security forces against Kuki-Chin National Front, escalating to the second phase of the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict. [10] In November 2022, Bangladesh Army launched a drive against Kuki-Chin National Front which saw 270 Kuki people seek refuge in Mizoram State in India. [11] [12]
In February 2023, Rapid Action Battalion arrested 17 personnel of Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya and three members of Kuki-Chin National Front after a day-long gunfight. [13] They also recovered AK-22 rifles among other weapons and bomb making equipment. [14] Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya paid 1.7 million to Kuki-Chin National Front for weapons. [15] By January 2023, 14 members of Kuki-Chin National Front were detained. [16]
Kuki-Chin National Army | |
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Leader | Nathan Bom |
Chief of Staff | Vanchun Lian Master [8] |
Dates of operation | 2022 | – present
Country | ![]() |
Allegiance | Kuki-Chin National Front |
Motives | The creation of an autonomous Kuki-Chin state in the nine upazilas of Rangamati and Bandarban district |
Active regions | Chittagong Hill Tracts |
Slogan | "Fighting for self determination and peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh"[ citation needed ] |
Status | Active |
Size | 100 (2016) [3] 2,000 (2024) [17] |
Means of revenue | Robbery, arms trading |
Allies | [ citation needed ] |
Opponents | |
Battles and wars | Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict (second phase) |
Designated as a terrorist group by | ![]() |
Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) is the armed wing of Kuki-Chin National Front. [19] Vanchun Lian Master, a vice-principal of the government primary school, is the chief of staff of the Kuki-Chin National Front's armed wing. [8]
From 11 to 17 January 2023, the Bandarban District administration banned tourists in the district due to a security forces' operation against the Kuki-Chin National Army. [20] A bullet hit body of Kuki-Chin National Army personnel was found Ruma Upazila on 30 January 2023 after a gunfight with security forces. [21] Another gunfight took place between Rapid Action Battalion and the Kuki-Chin National Army. [22] On 12 March, the Assam Rifles detained two members of the Kuki-Chin National Army in Mirozam. [23] In April 2023, eight people were killed in a shoot-out between the United People's Democratic Front (Democratic), a fraction of the United People's Democratic Front, and Kuki-Chin National Army in Rowangchhari Upazila, Bandarban District. [19]