The Myanmar Royal Dragon Army (MRDA; ), also known as Myanmar's Royal Dragon Army, was an armed resistance organisation based in Pale Township,

Sagaing Region Sagaing Region (, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is border ...

. It was founded on 1 January 2022 by its leader,

Bo Nagar Bo Nagar () is a Burmese revolutionary and the commander of the Myanmar Royal Dragon Army The Myanmar Royal Dragon Army (MRDA; ), also known as Myanmar's Royal Dragon Army, was an armed resistance organisation based in Pale Township, Sagaing ...

, and was under the command of the

National Unity Government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

. The Myanmar Royal Dragon Army was reformed and renamed as the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA; ) on September 9, 2023.

History

In February 2022, the MRDA announced it had attacked two bases near the villages of Ziphyugone and Einmahti alongside another resistance groups. The MRDA claimed that around 40 junta troops and

Pyusawhti militia Pyusawhti militias ( , also spelt Pyu Saw Htee) refers to three distinct groups of pro-military militias in Myanmar. The term was first used in 1955, when U Nu's government created Pyusawhti paramilitary units to assist the military with counte ...

members had been killed. In late April 2022, the MRDA attacked a number of outposts in

Pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

held by the

Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...

and Pyusawhti, a pro-junta militia. The MRDA also ambushed junta forces which it claimed were raiding villages and burning civilian homes.

Reorganization

On 14 March 2022, MRDA troops from

Yinmabin District Yinmabin District () is a newly created district in southern Sagaing Division, Burma (Myanmar); which was formerly part of Monywa District. Its administrative center is the city of Yinmabin. Administrative divisions Yinmabin District consi ...

were restructured into Yinmabin District People's Defence Force battalions- specifically Yinmabin PDF Battalions 3 through 6. The battalation were also additionally funded by the NUG on top of existing financial support from donations totaling around eUSD 260,000 to date.

Renaming

Later on 9 September 2023, Bo Nagar announced that the remaining parts of MRDA was to be renamed as the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA) and stated that their group would not be under the NUG's chain of command. Political analysts Than Soe Naing remarked this change as a step towards creating a Bamar EAO. BNRA claimed that they intend to work together with the

, with whom they met on September 12, 2023 to discuss NUG’s chain of command as well as the cooperation of BNRA with NUG’s administrative and defense mechanisms.

References

2021 establishments in Myanmar Military units and formations established in 2023 Paramilitary organisations based in Myanmar Rebel groups in Myanmar Ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar Military units and formations established in 2021 {{Myanmar-org-stub