Yet another ethnic Kachin armed group in northeast Burma, the Kachin Defense Army (KDA) has had to toe the Burmese junta’s line and transform to a regime-controlled militia group on January 19, KDA sources said.

KDA leader Mahtu Naw has been condemned for transforming KDA to Burmese junta-controlled militias by both his followers and Kachin people.

The official conversion ceremony of the brigade level KDA to two smaller militia groups was held in the rebel’s headquarters in Kawnghka, or also spelled Konghka, Northeast Shan State, participants said.

The ceremony saw to the official abolishment of the 19-year old KDA. The KDA’s troop strength in two brigades has been slashed from about 1,500 soldiers to less than 100, said KDA sources.

The militia uniform and epaulettes provided by the Burmese junta had to be changed into by KDA soldiers in the ceremony. The newly-transformed militias will be controlled by the junta’s Lashio-based Northeast Regional Command (Ya-Ma-Kha), sources close to KDA officials told KNG today.

KDA, which was the former 4th brigade of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Northeast Shan State, led by Mahtu Naw, has also promised to surrender its heavy machine guns, mortars and artillery to the Burmese Army after the first deadline of January 21, according to the KDA’s officers in Kawnghka.

The KDA has dozens of Chinese mortars like the 50 mm, 60 mm, 75 mm, 82 mm and 120 mm, which were procured when the group broke away from the KIA in 1990.

The dissolution of KDA is the third time that three KIA split groups officially abolished their units and joined the command of the Burmese Army since late last year.

In Kachin State, the Lawa Yang-based Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group led by Col Lasang Awng Wa transformed to two locally-based militias on October 16, last year whereas the Pangwah-based New Democratic Army-Kachin (KDA) led by Zahkung Ting Ying transformed to three battalions of the Border Guard Force (BGF) controlled by the Burmese Army on November 8, last year.

Local Burmese military analysts said the forcible conversion of the three Kachin armed groups, which had split from KIA, by the junta is aimed to pressurize the last remaining Kachin armed group the KIA to accept the junta-proposed Border Guard Force.

At the recent tenth meeting on the BGF issue, senior officials of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing the KIA sat with Burmese military officers in the Kachin State’s capital Myitkyina on January 29. However the issue could not be resolved, said KIO officials.