Founded in 1947, the KNU formed its military wing, the KNLA, two years later and has been waging war for greater autonomy against the central government ever since, creating one of the longest running civil wars in the world.
The Karen rebels reached a verbal ceasefire agreement with the government in 2004, but it later broken down. Despite major other ethnic militias including the Wa, Kachin, Shan and Mon reaching ceasefire agreements with the government in the 1990s, the KNU refused to compromise.
Its widely publicized peace agreement signed on Jan. 12 shocked many observers and Karens alike; many media commentators described it as a “historic agreement,” and it was the day's breaking news around the world.