The United Wa State Army (UWSA), widely recognized as the world’s largest heavily armed narcotics-trafficking militia, finds itself at a strategic crossroads, with one path crucially leading in the direction of renewed conflict with the war-ravaged country’s military-led government. The UWSA, which in 1989 signed a ceasefire with Myanmar’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), currently controls Myanmar’s remote Special Region No 2 territory with near-total autonomy. Ever since the October 2004 internal purge of former SPDC prime minister and intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt, the army-led junta has taken an increasingly hardline approach toward integrating ethnic insurgent groups, including the UWSA, and their respective controlled territories into the national fold. Full Story
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