Representatives of two ethnic armed groups traveled to Loi Tai Leng, headquarters of the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South), this week to meet with its leader for discussions aimed at expanding a new alliance of ethnic armies opposed to Burma’s ruling regime, according to a source close to the SSA-South.
The representatives, from the Karenni National Progressive party (KNPP) and a Lahu armed group, discussed the alliance with SSA-South leader Lt-Gen Yawd Serk during festivities to mark the Shan New Year, the source said on Wednesday.

“They mainly talked about military collaboration and analyzed the current political situation,” the source said, adding that other groups unable to send representatives to the gathering sent New Year’s greetings to the SSA-South.

The source said that further discussions may be held based on the outcome of the meeting at Loi Tai Leng.

The SSA-South is not part of an ethnic alliance formed on the Thai-Burmese border on Nov. 5, but may join if the ongoing negotiations are successful.

The current members of the alliance are the KNPP, the Chin National Front, the Kachin Independence Army, the New Mon State Party, the Karen National Union and the Shan State Army-North.

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Men carrying AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades are marching in unison, following the instructions of a battle-hardened commander.

In their combat fatigues, they could easily be mistaken for government soldiers, except for a red badge on their left shoulder and the periodic cry of “Allah Akbar!”, the Arabic for “God is great!”

They are members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a rebel group fighting for the rights of the Bangsamoro people - a Muslim community in a country that is more than 80% Catholic.

Moro rebels have been fighting against the government for nearly 40 years, in one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies. An estimated 120,000 people have been killed.

It is a conflict that has nearly been resolved several times, and a fragile ceasefire has been in place since 2003.

But despite repeated attempts from both sides, something always seems to prevent a lasting settlement.

In May, there was renewed hope that a solution might be reached. A popular new president, Benigno Aquino, had just been elected into office in Manila, and one of his main campaign pledges was to restart peace talks and bring an end to the violence.

But nearly six months on, nothing has happened, and the Bangsamoro people are angry.

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Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov says four suspected militants have been killed during a security operation in Kyrgyzstan’s southern city of Osh.

He said the four were connected to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

“Three terrorists, who fired automatic weapons, were killed,” Imankulov told reporters. “One blew himself up with a grenade. As a result, the ceiling of the room where they were hiding collapsed, and now special forces are cleaning up the place. So, three militants were killed, one blew himself up.”

Osh police chief Pamir Asanov said two other militants were captured during the operation and added the security operation was continuing.

Asanov said the fighting created panic in Osh, where tensions linger in the wake of ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek clashes in June that left some 400 people dead and caused widespread destruction in Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city.

Imankulov said two policemen were injured in a gun battle during the raid.

A local police spokesman was quoted earlier as saying the operation targeted members of banned Islamist group Hizb-ut Tahrir.

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About 1,000 villagers escaped to the Thai border town of Mae Sot, adding to 200 who fled late Saturday when clashes erupted between Myanmar troops and militias from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) for the second time this month.

Fighting broke out in two locations on November 8 and a splinter faction of the Karen group seized parts of the Myanmar town of Myawaddy. More than 12,000 people poured into Mae Sot and five Thais were wounded when rocket-propelled grenades landed on the other side of the border.

The clashes underline tensions between the central government and Myanmar’s many armed ethnic groups, which have fought for autonomy since independence from Britain in 1948. More than a dozen have tenuous cease-fire deals with the government.

Myanmar’s military rulers have demanded the ethnic militias disarm and join a state-run Border Guard Force but most have resisted and the larger armies are braced for offensives, which could result in heavy casualties.

The News:
http://uk.reuters.co … dUKTRE6AR1BA20101128

President Lee Myung-bak ordered his military Tuesday to punish North Korea for its artillery attacks “through action,” not just words, saying it is important to stop the communist regime from contemplating additional provocation.

“The provocation this time can be regarded as an invasion of South Korean territory. In particular, indiscriminate attacks on civilians are a grave matter,” a stern-faced Lee said during a visit to the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in central Seoul.

The North fired some 100 coastline artillery rounds across the western sea border onto Yeonpyeong Island Tuesday afternoon, killing two marines and wounding more than a dozen others. Three civilians on the small island, home to more than 1,600 residents, mostly fishermen and their families, and a marine corps base, were also wounded.

The attack set houses and forests on fire on the island that lies just south of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border between the two Koreas drawn at the end of their 1950-53 war.

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