Wa National Army

Wa National Army 'ဝ' အမျိုးသားတပ်မတော်
Participant in the Internal conflict in Myanmar
Flag of the Wa people, which was used by the WNA.
Active	July 29, 1969 (1969-07-29)–August 1997 (1997-08)
Ideology	Wa nationalism Separatism
Leaders	Mahasang
Area of operations	Shan State, Myanmar; Thai-Myanmar border
Part of	Wa National Organisation
Originated as	Ka Kwe Ye
Became	United Wa State Army
Allies	Kuomintang Shan State Army (until 1977)
Opponents	State opponents Union of Myanmar Tatmadaw Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (until 1988) Non-state opponents Communist Party of Burma
Battles and wars	Internal conflict in Myanmar

The Wa National Army (Burmese: 'ဝ' အမျိုးသားတပ်မတော်; WNA) was an insurgent group that operated in northern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma) and near Myanmar's border with Thailand. It was the armed wing of the Wa National Organisation (WNO).

History

The WNA was founded along with the WNO on 29 July 1974, after the original group, the Ka Kwe Ye, joined forces with the Shan State Army (SSA) and Lo Hsing Han. The group was led by Mahasang, the son of the last sawbwa of Vingngun.

In 1977, the WNA broke ties with the SSA and allied themselves with the 3rd Kuomintang battalion operating near the Myanmar-China border, led by General Li Wenhuan. In 1983, the WNA's political wing, the Wa National Organisation, officially joined the National Democratic Force (NDF).

The WNA operated in northern Shan State and near the Thai-Myanmar border, but not in the mountainous areas of the region, which were under the control of the Communist Party of Burma until their armed wing's collapse in 1989. In August 1997, the WNA signed a peace agreement with the military junta government.

See also

• Shan State Army
• United Wa State Army