Kachin Independence Army

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: Wunpawng Mungdan Shanglawt Hpyen Dap; Burmese: ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), a political group of ethnic Kachins in Northern Myanmar (formerly Burma). The Kachins are a coalition of six tribes whose homeland encompasses territory in China's Yunnan, Northeast India and Kachin State in Myanmar.

The Kachin Independence Army is funded by the KIO, which raises money through regional taxes and trade in jade, timber and gold. It is armed with a combination of AK-47s, locally made rifles (such as KA-09) and some artillery. The KIA also makes their own self-neutralizing landmines with roughly a 3-year lifespan.

Kachin Independence Army headquarters are in Laiza, in southern Kachin State near the Chinese border.

In 2009, before the cease-fire was broken, Thomas Fuller of the New York Times estimated the number of active KIA soldiers at about 4,000. The Myanmar Peace Monitor currently estimates over 12,000 active troops. They are divided into eight brigades and one mobile brigade. Most are stationed in bases near the Chinese border, in KIO-held strips of territory. In October 2010, KIA commanders said that they had "16,000 regular troops and 10,000 reservists". In May 2012, the group had about 8,000 troops. The Kachin Independence Army members are mostly militants.

In 1949 Naw Seng, a Kachin, was a captain in Kachin Battalion 1. He went underground during the Kayin-Bama riot and joined the Karen National Defence Organization (KNDO). He was active in northern Shan State as a KNDO agent in 1950. At that time, Zau Seng was attending the government high school in Lashio. He contacted Naw Seng, and followed him underground. Naw Seng took refuge in China in 1951, and Zau Seng remained in the KNDO in Than-daung and Baw-ga-li.

In 1959 Gyi Loveland (Kachin name Zau Bawk), assigned as a counselor, was sent to organize residents to carry out underground operations in northern Shan State. Zau Seng and Gyi Loveland took shelter in Nam Um village, Hu Gawng district (where Gyi Loveland's mother was a teacher) and began their mission. Zau Tu (Zau Seng's younger brother, a university student) left school and joined Zau Seng underground.

Lance Corporal Lamung Tu Jai, who was studying in Theinni after he was dismissed from Kachin Battalion 4, and Lama La Ring (who returned to Kutkai after leaving university) contacted Zau Seng and formed the Kachin Independence Organization in 1960.

Zau Seng became the head of the unit; Zau Tu was its deputy head, and Lama La Ring the secretary. They provided the KIO with ammunition to form a private army with 27 members.