Kuki-Chin National Front | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | KNF |
Leader | Nathan Bom |
Chief Coordinator | Cheosim Bom [1] (POW) |
Founder | Nathan Bom |
Founded | 2008 | (as Kuki-Chin National Development Organization)
Headquarters | Chin state, Myanmar |
Armed wing | Kuki-Chin National Army |
Ideology | Autonomy demands [2] [3] [4] [5] Anti-Chakma sentiment [3] [4] [5] [6] Anti-Marma sentiment [5] [3] Anti-Tripuri sentiment [5] Kuki-Chin interests [5] |
Slogan | "Nehnak Chu Lalpa Ta" |
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. |
Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), also known as Bom Party or Bawm Party, [7] 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. [2] [7] [8] 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 the Kachin State in Myanmar, [9] and also has ties with Karen rebels. [10]
Kuki-Chin National Front was established in 2017 by members of the Bawm people in Bangladesh with two thousand personnel. [9] The Bawm community is mostly Christian and accuses the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti of discrimination. [9] The founding president of the Kuki-Chin National Front is Nathan Bom, a graduate of fine arts from the University of Dhaka. [9] 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. [9] [7] KNV developed relations with the rebels of the Manipur state of India and Chin state of Myanmar. [5] 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 in India's Manipur and Myanmar's Karen and Kachin states. [5] The Kuki-Chin National Volunteers would become the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) in 2020. [7]
In June 2022, the Kuki-Chin National Front attacked a camp of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, killing three in Belaichhari Upazila, Rangamati District. [11] 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. [12] 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. [13] [14]
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. [15] They also recovered AK-22 rifles among other weapons and bomb making equipment. [16] Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya paid 1.7 million to Kuki-Chin National Front for weapons. [17] By January 2023, 14 members of Kuki-Chin National Front were detained. [18]
On the night of 2 April 2024, some members of this group robbed the Sonali Bank branch in Ruma upazila, [19] looting around 15 million taka. The next day at noon, group members again attempted to rob two branches of Krishi Bank and Sonali Bank in Thanchi Upazila. Apart from the bank robbery incident, the attackers kidnapped the manager of a Sonali Bank branch, and snatched around 14 firearms of police and Ansar paramilitary forces. [20] [21] Later, the manager was released in exchange for a ransom of Tk 2 million. [22] After this incident, Bangladesh government suspended the peace talks and combined forces of Bangladesh Army, RAB & Police declared full-scale operation to capture KNF insurgents. By 10 April 2024, 55 people allegedly associated with KNF were arrested by Bangladesh Police. [23]
Kuki-Chin National Army | |
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Leader | Nathan Bom |
Chief of Staff | Vanchun Lian Master [10] |
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 [ citation needed ] |
Active regions | Chittagong Hill Tracts |
Status | Active |
Size | 3,000 [5] |
Means of revenue | robbery, arms trading |
Allies | |
Opponents | |
Battles and wars | Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict (second phrase) |
Designated as a terrorist group by | ![]() |
Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) is the armed wing of Kuki-Chin National Front. [25] 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. [10]
From 11 to 17 January 2023, the Bandarban District administration banned tourists in the district due a drive against Kuki-Chin National Army by security forces in the district. [26] A bullet hit body of Kuki-Chin National Army personnel was found Ruma Upazila on 30 January 2023 after a gunfight with security forces. [27] Another gunfight took place between Rapid Action Battalion and the Kuki-Chin National Army. [28] On 12 March, the Assam Rifles detained two members of the Kuki-Chin National Army in Mirozam. [29] In March 2023, Kuki-Chin National Army attacked a convoy of Bangladesh Army that was escorting medical convoy for expectant mothers in Chittagong Hill Tracts. [30] [31] A master warrant officer of Bangladesh Army, Nazim Uddin, was killed in the ambush and two soldiers were injured. [30] [32] The Kuki-Chin National Army kidnapped 12 workers constructing the Thanchi road and released some of them after getting their ransom. [30] It also kidnapped a retired sergeant of Bangladesh Army who was working as a contractor on road construction. [33] In April 2023, eight people were killed in a shootout 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. [25]
Bandarban is a district in South-Eastern Bangladesh, and a part of the Chittagong Division. It is one of the three hill districts of Bangladesh and a part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the others being Rangamati District and Khagrachhari District. Bandarban district (4,479 km2) is not only the most remote district of the country, but also the least populous. There is an army contingent at Bandarban Cantonment.
Lama is an upazila of Bandarban District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
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The Insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts refers to a political and armed conflict that occurred in Bangladesh in two phases:
The Bom, Bawm or Bawmzo, are an ethnic community inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. According to the 2022 Bangladeshi census the population of Bawms in Bangladesh is 13,193. In 2004, around 10,000 Bawm inhabited India. 2,500 Bawms reside in Myanmar. They speak the Sino-Tibetan Bawm language.
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Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council is the local government body responsible for the welfare and some administrations of the Chittagong Hill Tracts districts, which include Bandarban District, Khagrachari District, and Rangamati Hill District, in Bangladesh and is located in Dhaka, Rangamati. Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma also known as Santu Larma is the Chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council. He is also the chairman of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti.
Nathan Lanchew Bom is a Bawm politician and militant leader from Chittagong Hill Tracts who has been serving as the founding president of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), as well as the leader of the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA). He founded KNF in 2017. Since then, his location remains unknown.
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