Burma-Myanmar: Army clashes with Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) rebels in region where journalists held
Myanmar’s military has engaged in deadly clashes with ethnic minority rebels in the northeast in the past week, state media reported on Wednesday, as concern grows for three reporters detained by the military in the region.
The journalists were taken into military custody in northern Shan State on Monday after covering a drug-burning event organised by the rebel Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which demands more autonomy for the Ta’ang ethnic group.
The journalists’ detention comes amid rising concern that press freedoms are being eroded in Myanmar despite a transition from full military rule, and underlines the challenge de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces in achieving peace.
Clashes between government troops and loosely allied rebel groups close to Myanmar’s border with China have set back peace talks prioritised by Suu Kyi when she took power last year.