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A one-hour shootout took place in Shan State South, when Burma Army troops attacked a small outpost of the Shan State Army (SSA) North on the Nampang, a tributary of the Salween, on Wednesday, 21 March, according to an SSA source.
“They retreated with casualties (we don’t know how many),” said the SSA officer. “The outpost was reinforced afterward.”
A BREAKAWAY group of the Karen National Union last week signed a preliminary peace agreement in Nay Pyi Taw.
The KNU/KNLA Peace Council, led by General Saw Htay Maung, signed the deal with U Aung Thaung and the union-level peace negotiating team at Amara Hotel on February 7.
About 20 members of the breakaway group, including senior officials, a medical officer, security members and four journalists arrived in Nay Pyi Taw on February 6. They held a preliminary meeting with the government team that day before signing the six-point agreement on February 7.
Clashes have broken out over a two-day period between the Shan State Army–South (SSA-S) and Burmese government forces after the Burmese troops attacked a Shan military base on Tuesday, the SSA-S says.
The hostilities appear to have shattered a fragile ceasefire which was signed late last year.
SSA-S spokesman Maj Sai Lao Hseng told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the SSA-S troops based in Mong Ping Township in eastern Shan State were currently engaged in battle with government troops.
When Myanmar announced a cease-fire last month with one of the country’s most prominent rebel groups, images of longstanding enemies shaking hands across a table were beamed around the globe and touted as evidence of further reconciliation in a country emerging from decades of military dictatorship and interethnic strife.
Now, three weeks after the deal was announced, the leadership of the rebel group is denying that a cease-fire was signed.
“We can’t say there’s a cease-fire yet,” Naw Zipporah Sein, the general secretary of the Karen National Union, said in an interview. “We still need to discuss the conditions.”
Afghan and NaTO-led International Coalition security forces captured a Haqqani Network leader in eastern Khost province.
The operation was conducted by Afghan and NATO and International Security Assistance Force in Mangso district of eastern Khost province two nights back.
According to provincial ISAF officials, a number of militant suspects were also detained during the operation.