The Mon National Liberation Army – Anti-Dictatorship (MNLA-AD) and the Mon Liberation Army (MLA) announced on 24 May 2025 that they would join together to form the Ramanya Mon Army (RMA).
This follows the formation of the Ramanya Joint Task Force on 19 January 2025 by the MNLA-D, which is the armed wing of the New Mon State Party – Anti-Dictatorship (NMSP-AD), the RMA, the Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF), and the Mon State Defence Force (MSDF).
According to a spokesperson for the NMSP-AD, Nai Kaung Sakar, the MNLA-AD and the MLA will merge their forces to become the RMA.
He explained that the RMA plans to carry out military operations in Mon State and neighbouring areas with significant Mon populations, but he declined to reveal troop numbers.
He said to Than Lwin Times: “We’re committed to uniting all Mon armed forces under a single army. Right now, only two groups that were ready to come together have merged as a first step. Going forward, we’ll work to bring other Mon resistance forces and Mon State-based People’s Defence Force (PDF) factions into the RMA as well.”
MLA spokesperson Banyar Min Kan Si also confirmed that the MNLA-AD and MLA will function as a single army, the RMA, under joint leadership.
He said: “The MNLA-AD and MLA will come together to form a single army and operate under a unified command as the RMA. Our political leadership will continue through the NMSP-AD.”
The RMA will be led by the NMSP-AD Political Military Committee, made up of 26 members of the MNLA-D and the MNLA.
Explaining the command structure of the new organisation Nai Kaung Sakar said: “We’ve set up a leadership system that includes both sides and can be described as a unified leadership. The political leadership will continue under the name NMSP-AD.”
The Mon State Federal Council (MSFC), which commands both the MSRF and MSDF issued a press release in response to the formation of the RMA without their participation.
It said that it considers the the formation of the RMA to be a “positive development” but does not approve of the command structure. It believes that the RMA should not be a unified force led by officers from the MNLA-D and the MLA. Instead it should be an affiliation of Mon armed groups who remain under their own leadership.
It said that the current way the RMA has been organised is: “The “Coming Under Model” in which other forces would come under NMSP(AD)’s leadership” and added that this was a “one-sided” approach.
It suggested an alternative approach saying: “We believe that the most appropriate approach for such collaboration is through the “Coming Together Model” – a model that emphasises unity and joint action among the various revolutionary forces under MSFC and other local forces in the state. Given the current political and military context, we view this model – one that is inclusive and involves all stakeholders (All Inclusive), similar to past coalition movements like the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) and the African National Congress (ANC) – as more fitting than a model led solely by one organisation.”
It also said that on 28 March 2025 it had sent letters to the NMSP-AD and MLA outlining its proposals to which the MLA had responded but not the NMSP-AD.
Despite its criticisms of the RMA the MSFC still voiced its support for it in the press statement and said that it would cooperate with the RMA.
It said: “Nonetheless, since MSFC’s political objectives — such as eradicating all forms of dictatorship and establishing Mon State within a federal union — are largely aligned with those of NMSP(AD), we will continue to seek pathways for cooperation. Additionally, MSFC's subordinate and allied forces will collaborate with the Ramanya Mon Army in the ongoing struggle against the current military dictatorship.”
