 The territory south of the Shweli, about , north of Namtu and from Namkham to the west, was under the control of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) from 1968 to 1986.The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) controlled the area north of the Shweli, and the Shan State Army (SSA) and the Palaung State Liberation Army (PSLA) farther south.The Shweli river valley and the hills around Momeik (Mong Mit) and Mogok with its ruby mines had been old CPB strongholds since the 1950s.