Three Brotherhood Alliance

In 2016, following increased tensions between the Rohingya people of Rakhine State in western Myanmar and Buddhist extremists allied with the Myanmar military, the Burmese government began a genocidal campaign to expel Rohingya civilians from Rakhine state. The tensions hit a boiling point following an attack by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militants against a Burmese police outpost. The Arakan Army, which had fought against the Tatmadaw in the early 2010s alongside the Kachin Independence Army, resumed operations in Rakhine state following the resurgence in conflict and in 2018, conducted several attacks against the Tatmadaw in Rakhine state. The Ta'ang National Liberation Army predominantly conducted localized operations against the Tatmadaw in northern Shan State prior to the 2021 coup. Despite being created in 2009, more recent than other rebel groups in Myanmar, the TNLA received public support from Ta'ang people and military support from other rebel groups like the KIA and United Wa State Army. Prior to the coup, the TNLA clashed regularly with the Restoration Council of Shan State over control of northern Shan state. The Northern Alliance is a coalition of four rebel groups – the MNDAA, AA, TNLA, and the KIA – that was founded in 2016 to participate in peace talks with the Burmese government. In April 2017, the Northern Alliance, along with three other EAOs (the United Wa State Army, National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Shan State Army – North), formed the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee. == Formation ==

The Three Brotherhood Alliance first arose in June 2019, during heavy fighting between the Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw in Rakhine State and MNDAA and TNLA offensives in Shan state. The first attacks by the 3BA were in Shan State and in Mandalay. The ceasefire paused further actions by the MNDAA until the 2021 coup. The Keng Tung ceasefire continued through March 2020. Despite this, the Tatmadaw declared the Arakan Army to be a terrorist group on March 23. The group released another statement in May 2020, as the ceasefire extensions continued, urging the Tatmadaw to respect the ceasefire in Rakhine state. Renewed peace talks came to fruition in July 2020, with AA and the 3BA beginning peace talks with the Burmese government. The Tatmadaw and Arakan Army signed a ceasefire in November 2020, and afterwards, the group consolidated control over much of Rakhine State and acted like a de facto state. By 2021, few clashes were documented between the junta and members of the Three Brotherhood Alliance. == Post-coup actions ==

The Three Brotherhood Alliance were one of the few rebel groups to not immediately declare war on the junta after the coup in February 2021. Because of this, the junta prioritized negotiations with the alliance in an attempt to gain support for the junta. In early March, the junta removed the Arakan Army from its list of terrorist groups in an attempt to gain support as other rebel groups began rebelling against the government. However, AA spokesman Khine Tha Khahe deplored the actions of the Tatmadaw against protesters, calling them "very cruel and unacceptable." The TNLA and MNDAA also did not register any clashes with the Tatmadaw immediately following the coup – junta forces instead pulled troops from northern Shan state to southeastern Myanmar to quell insurgents, allowing both groups (especially the TNLA) to exercise de facto control over northern Shan. The alliance was the first public action against the junta by either of the three groups. The ceasefire fell apart following the alliance's first attack on junta troops on April 10, 2021. In the attack, 3BA forces ambushed a police outpost in the city of Naungmon in northern Shan state, killing fourteen police officers. In Rakhine, the AA used the first peace in years to gain control over most of Rakhine state, declaring in August that they controlled over two-thirds of the state. In late 2021, clashes broke out in Kokang after the MNDAA attacked the village of Ei Nie in northern Shan state. The MNDAA also catalogued 126 incidents of clashes with the Tatmadaw in November 2021, an escalation of clashes first beginning in July. Around that time, the group was gaining strength and firepower. The TNLA also launched a brief recruitment raid in May 2023 in Lashio, military controlled territory. In mid-March 2026, the alliance between MNDAA and TNLA broke down over the issue of security cameras and to reopen the trade route to China. The MNDAA attacked TNLA-controlled Kutkai using drones and took the city on 16 March. On the 17th anniversary of the founding of the Arakan Army, the MNDAA and TNLA pledged to continue their friendship, as well as cooperate with the AA and to work together until the "revolutionary vision" is achieved. == Operation 1027 ==

The Three Brotherhood Alliance launched a massive offensive in northern Shan state on October 27, 2023, in an operation dubbed Operation 1027. The operation was in response to a failed junta offensive towards the KIA-controlled town of Laiza in Kachin state, which fizzled out in early October. At the end of the failed offensive, the junta launched an airstrike that killed 29 people, mostly children. Clashes also broke out in the cities of Lashio, Hsenwi, and Kutkai, the first major fighting in those cities in the war. The operation received praise and support by other rebel groups, such as PDF groups in Mandalay, the Karenni National People's Liberation Front, the People's Liberation Army, and the National Unity Government of Myanmar. == References ==