Fighting broke out on Sunday between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and government troops along a road linking the villages of Pansan and Pankyan, near the town of Kyaukme in northern Shan State.
According to the SSA-N, roughly seven Burmese army battalions entered the area and took positions across the town last week, causing locals to flee their homes in fear of renewed fighting.
Most travelled by foot, carrying what possessions they could.
Ethnic issues Lead Story Photos Shan
During the 71st Shan State National Day commemoration at the headquarters of the Restoration Council of Shan State’s Loi Tai Leng headquarters, European ambassadors and UN representatives rubbed shoulders with ethnic armed group leaders.
As the men have little money to pay hospital fees, donations have been raised among the local Kachin community.
Gen. Gun Maw of the Kachin Independence Army posted a copy of Suu Kyi’s letter, dated 22 December, on his Facebook page.
Analysis Ethnic issues Lead Story Peace Process
Insofar as the Union government’s agenda for ethnic reconciliation is concerned, there is little doubt that the north, where the most powerful rebel armies operate, holds the key to a permanent negotiated settlement.
The state government accuses the Shan army of contravening a state-level agreement outlining areas of control and prompting hostilities with Burmese troops.
The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP) must one day unite under the same banner, according to the leader of the former, who said that such a merger was ultimately necessary given Burma’s current political situation.
Clashes between Tatmadaw troops and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) flared in three northern Shan State townships on Wednesday, the ethnic armed group has announced.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee released a statement on Thursday conveying the ethnic armed bloc’s intention to join the next iteration of the government’s 21st Century Panglong Conference if its members are officially invited to do so.
A major member of the United Nationalities Federal Council, the Shan State Progressive Party, has submitted a resignation letter to the council, with the ethnic armed group on Sunday revealing its plans to leave the coalition.
Aung Kyi, the head of the Peace Commission, told DVB that they hoped the ethnic rebel alliance would be “involved in the peace process very soon”.
Skirmishes between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Tatmadaw in northern Shan State saw four civilians injured by artillery fire early Sunday morning, and potentially hundreds more flee out of fear for their safety.
Conflict Lead Story News Shan Ta'ang
Clashes between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Tatmadaw erupted in Khay Khin and Man Wel villages, part of Namhsan Township, Shan State, on Tuesday morning, sending more than 100 locals fleeing to neighbouring Namtu Township.
Soldiers from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) stand accused of abducting a man in the Hsenwi Township village of Kham Tain on Wednesday evening, releasing him only after a local abbot paid more than 2 million kyats (US$1,460) to the ethnic armed group.
Burmese government forces, Kachin, Shan and Palaung rebels all involved in armed clashes this week.
The Burmese units accused various residents of having links to the TNLA or of protecting its soldiers.
Ethnic issues Lead Story Military News
“Out of each three boys, they had to draw lots to determine which one would have to join the militia.”
Conflict Lead Story Military News
A damning new report from Amnesty International paints a picture of northern Burma in which the military continues to act with impunity, accused of human rights abuses tantamount to war crimes just weeks after the appointment of a UN fact-finding mission to probe such concerns.
Human rights advocates called on Burma to investigate the actions of some of its soldiers on Saturday after footage of people being treated violently by uniformed men went viral.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with seven allied ethnic armed groups that are not signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on the sidelines of the ongoing 21st Century Panglong Conference in the capital on Friday, a government official has confirmed.
Conflict Lead Story News Peace Process
“We are seeing renewed fighting with the Tatmadaw in Namhkam, Kutkai and Namtu townships,” said the TNLA spokesperson.
The seven militias say they have formed a committee to negotiate with the government, but will not discuss the NCA.
The abbot of a local monastery and another man were arrested in Arakan State’s Mrauk Oo Township on Monday after they organised a football match dubbed the “Arakan Army Cup.”
Two local villagers were killed on Tuesday when an artillery shell landed on their home amid clashes between Burmese government forces and ethnic fighters in northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army has been accused of torture and the extrajudicial killing of a local villager in northern Shan State’s Kyaukme district last week.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) denies allegations that the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army abducted 80 female staffers working at a casino in Laogai in the aftermath of an early Monday morning assault on the town.
A crackdown on graft in China is having trans-border implications for entrepreneurs in the self-proclaimed Wa State as business slows with a tightening of visa regulations.
Two Kachin pastors who went missing last month and were feared dead are alive and in Burmese Army custody, according to the Office of the Defence Services’ Commander-in-Chief.
