Indian Army Chief, General Bikram Singh today embarked on a five-day goodwill visit to Myanmar. This visit by the Army Chief till November 2 assumes special significance in the light of enhanced defence cooperation between the two countries and the
Child soldiers have and continue to play a major part in the Burmese Army as well as in Burmese rebel movements. An Independent report in June 2012 stated that children were being sold to the Burmese military for "as little as $40 and a bag of rice
The war has seen women playing a significant role, as both combatants and victims. In 2012, a Time Magazine report documented the presence of many female soldiers in the KIA army. Photo shows ethnic Kachin women resting at the camp.
A boy receives his hair cut at the Je Yang IDP camp.
A boy plays with others children at the IDP camp.
Kachin people rest in the camp.
Many civilians have taken shelter in the Je Yang Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp at the headquarters of KIA in Laiza, a border town of China and Myanmar. A view of people working near their residence at the camp.
Civilians were displaced by the war and faced dangers such as landmines which were frequently laid by government and rebel forces without regard for civilians.
Soldiers of Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on guard in Laiza, a border town of China and Myanmar
From 1961 until 1994, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) fought a grueling and inconclusive war against the Burmese junta for independence, but now the groups goal is for autonomy within a federal union.
Conflicts in Kachin State and other Kachin populated areas have occurred since Burmese independence from the United Kingdom. Photo shows women clad in Kachin traditional costumes, dancing with miniature flags of ethnic rebels.
In addition to the Kachin State in Burma, the Kachins are a coalition of 6 tribes that are native to the territory in Yunnan, China and Northeast India.
The Kachin Independence Movement had its origin during the British colonial occupation of Burma in the 1940s. It aimed at addressing questions of ethnic group and minority representation and rights.
Ahead of this visit here is a look at the Burmese Civil War that has ravaged the state since the 1940s.
In pictures: Kachin conflict - the war that savaged Myanmar