United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers participate in a military parade, to commemorate 30 years of a ceasefire signed with the Myanmar military in the Wa State, in Panghsang on April 17, 2019

GUWAHATI: A district court in Myanmar has sentenced 24 Assam and Manipur militants, who were arrested from their hideouts in January by the country’s army in a crackdown against Indian groups, to two years of imprisonment after charging them under the country’s Unlawful Association Act.

The militants sent to jail by the Hkamti district court in Sagaing region of Myanmar belong to the Manipur People’s Army (MPA), United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People’s Liberation Army of Manipur (PLA), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak.

Quoting Colonel Than Naing of the Myanmar Army’s Northwestern Command, Myanmarese daily the Irrawady reported, “We prosecuted them under Article 17(1) because they are rebels.” The Myanmarese army, officially known as ‘Tatmadaw’, launched a massive crackdown on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) in January. On January 29, the Myanmar army’s Northwestern Command raided the headquarters of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) in the Naga self-administered zone of Sagaing division, where the Indian militants were staying. The army arrested 24 Assam and Manipur rebels.

“The flush-out by the Myanmarese army is still continuing, and we have reports of gunfights near Hoyat and Laonyu village along the India-Myanmar border,” a security source said. “The Tatmadaw filed a complaint against the rebels under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act. At their sixth hearing, the Hkamti district court sentenced the 24 rebels to two years in prison,” The Irrawaddy reported.