Kachin conflict

The Kachin conflict is fought primarily in Kachin State and northern Shan State, Myanmar, between the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), on one side, and the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) on the other. The KIO was founded in 1961, and armed insurgency began shortly thereafter, driven by Kachin demands for federal autonomy that they argue were promised under the 1947 Panglong Agreement signed by Aung San with Shan, Kachin, and Chin representatives.

A ceasefire negotiated in 1994 held for 17 years and allowed the KIO to administer significant territory, run civil institutions, and tax cross-border trade with China. That ceasefire collapsed on 9 June 2011, when fighting resumed near the Taping River hydropower project. Since then, hostilities have continued with periodic escalations, displacing well over 100,000 people into camps inside KIO-controlled areas and government-held towns, many cut off from international humanitarian access.

Key drivers of the conflict include:

• Resource competition over jade (the Hpakant mines), timber, gold, and hydropower, which finance both sides.
• Ethnic and religious identity: the Kachin are predominantly Christian in a Buddhist-majority state.
• Constitutional disputes over the 2008 Constitution, which the KIO views as insufficiently federal.

The KIO did not sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) of October 2015 and remains outside that framework. It is a senior member of the Northern Alliance and the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC).

Following the February 2021 coup, the KIA expanded operations, attacking Tatmadaw outposts and providing training and sanctuary to People's Defence Force (PDF) units aligned with the National Unity Government. By 2024 the KIA and allied forces had captured multiple towns in Kachin State, including reported gains around Bhamo and the rare-earth mining belt near the Chinese border, sharpening Beijing's involvement in mediation.