Kayah State, or Karenni State, is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and west by Kayin State. It lies approximately between 18° 30′ and 19° 55′ north latitude and between 96° 50′ and 97° 50′ east longitude. The area is 11,670 km2 (4,510 sq mi). Its capital is Loikaw. The estimated population in the 2014 Myanmar Census was 286,738, the smallest among Myanmar's seven states. It is inhabited primarily by the Karenni ethnic group, also known as Red Karen or Kayah, a Sino-Tibetan people.
The Karen National Union is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), that claims to represent the Karen people of Myanmar. It operates in mountainous eastern Myanmar and has underground networks in other areas of Myanmar where Karen people live as a minority group.
Loikaw is the capital of Kayah State, also known as Karenni State, in Myanmar. It is located in the Karen Hills area, near the State's northern tip, just above an embayment on the Pilu River. The inhabitants are mostly Kayah (Karenni). Myanmar's largest hydropower plant is located about 20 km (12 mi) east of Loikaw at Lawpita Falls.
The Karenni States, also known as Red Karen States, was the name formerly given to the states inhabited mainly by the Red Karen, in the area of present-day Kayah State, eastern Burma. They were located south of the Federated Shan States and east of British Burma.
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.
Insurgencies have been ongoing in Myanmar since 1948, the year the country, then known as Burma, gained independence from the United Kingdom. The conflict has largely been ethnic-based, with several ethnic armed groups fighting Myanmar's armed forces, the Tatmadaw, for self-determination. Despite numerous ceasefires and the creation of autonomous self-administered zones in 2008, many armed groups continue to call for independence, increased autonomy, or the federalisation of the country. The conflict is the world's longest ongoing civil war, having spanned more than seven decades.
Mese is the capital of Mese District in southeastern Kayah State, Myanmar.
The 2010–2012 Myanmar border clashes were a series of skirmishes between the Tatmadaw on one side, and the DKBA-5 and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on the other. The clashes erupted along the border with Thailand shortly after Myanmar's general election on 7 November 2010. An estimated 10,000 refugees have fled into nearby neighbouring Thailand to escape the violent conflict. There was concern that due to discontent with the elections, and speculations of electoral fraud, that the conflict could escalate into a civil war.
The Karenni Army is the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), and operates in eastern Kayah State, Myanmar (Burma).
The Karenni National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF) is a communist and Karenni nationalist insurgent group active in Kayah State, Myanmar (Burma). It agreed to become a government-sponsored border guard force on 8 November 2009 although it remains active under the name of KNPLF. Starting from 13 June 2023, it has decided to change sides to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), Karenni Army (KA), Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), and People's Defense Force (PDF) and fight the military regime.
The Pa-O National Liberation Army is a Pa-O insurgent group in Myanmar (Burma). It is the armed wing of the Pa-O National Liberation 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 Mo So Massacre, also known as the Christmas Eve Massacre, was a mass killing of civilians that occurred on the afternoon of December 24, 2021, in Hpruso Township in Kayah State, Myanmar. During the massacre, Myanmar Army troops killed and burned over forty people.
The Myanmar civil war, also called the Burmese Spring Revolution, Burmese civil war 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 rebel alliance, the junta also contends with other anti-junta 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 Karenni Nationalities Defence Force is an armed insurgent group in Myanmar formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. The KNDF also includes other organizations, such as the KNPP, which an official regard as "good relations between the EAOs and the public" The KNDF has engaged in fighting with the junta, mainly with the 66th Light Infantry Division.
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.
The Battle of Mese took place during the first half of 2023 for control of Mese Township on the border between Myanmar and Thailand in Kayah State. The battle was a part of the current Myanmar civil war.
The Three Brotherhood Alliance ;, also known as Brotherhood Alliance, is an alliance between the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army formed in June 2019.
Operation 1107 is an ongoing joint military operation launched on 7 November 2023, by the Karenni National People's Liberation Front, Karenni Army, and Karenni Nationalities Defence Force against the Tatmadaw military junta in Myanmar, during the Myanmar civil war. It was launched in support of the concurrent Operation 1027 by other rebel forces in Myanmar.
Operation 1111 is an ongoing military operation in Myanmar launched by Karenni Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) including the Karenni Army (KA), Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and Karenni National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF). The operation was launched concurrently with Operation 1107, with the goal to capture Kayah State's capital city of Loikaw.
Myanmar (SAC) 
