The cease-fire in Shan State between the Shan State Army-North (SSA-North) and the Burmese army has been broken after a series of clashes in Mong Hsnu Township in southern Shan State.
SSA-North officials have told The Irrawaddy that the armed Shan cease-fire group has fought a series of skirmishes with Burmese Infantry Battalion 33 in the area, the latest being a two-hour skirmish on Thursday evening.
“The Burmese troops broke the cease-fire,” said an SSA-North Brigade No. 1 official on condition of anonymity. “Fifty soldiers from the Tatmadaw [Burmese army] sneaked up and attacked us.”
A villager in Mong Hsnu said that the fighting started five days ago and that troops from the SSA-North had passed through his village.
SSA-North Brigade No. 1 is based in Kehsi Township in southern Shan State. Brigade No. 3 is based in Mongyai Township in northern Shan State, and Brigade No. 7 is based in Hsipaw Township, which is also in the northern part of the state.
Saengjuen Sarawin, an editor with the Shan Herald Agency for News, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the Tatmadaw had been passing down instructions to their troops to launch attacks on the SSA-North since Sept. 1.
“What I think is that this clash is not an offensive action by the Tatmadaw, but a military strategy to seal the way out of southern State State,” he said.
The SSA-North signed a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese regime in 1989. The original agreement allowed the Shan militia to retain arms and granted them several business concessions, particularly in logging and tax collection.
Last year, however, Burmese commanders began pressuring all the ethnic cease-fire groups to transform their battalions into border guard forces (BGFs); their latest deadline for the SSA-North expired on April 22.
Sources have said that the SSA-North is likely to split into two factions due to a disagreement over whether to join the military regime's BGF plan.
An SSA-North official emphasized that they expect more hostilities in the area and that they are ready to respond to any attack.
“The Burmese government forces have reinforced to about 1,000 soldiers in the region,” he said. “Tensions are high.”
He pointed out that local people were cut off from fleeing to the Thai border and that villagers could face ill-treatment and torture at the hands of the Tatmadaw.
The Burmese regime signed cease-fire agreements with several ethnic groups over the past 21 years—including the SSA-North, the United Wa State Army, the Kachin Independence Organization, the Kokang army (officially called the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army), and the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army.
However, since the regime tried to implement a BGF plan in eastern Burma, tensions have mounted and the ethnic armies have formed alliances against the Tatmadaw.
SSA-North officials have told The Irrawaddy that the armed Shan cease-fire group has fought a series of skirmishes with Burmese Infantry Battalion 33 in the area, the latest being a two-hour skirmish on Thursday evening.
“The Burmese troops broke the cease-fire,” said an SSA-North Brigade No. 1 official on condition of anonymity. “Fifty soldiers from the Tatmadaw [Burmese army] sneaked up and attacked us.”
A villager in Mong Hsnu said that the fighting started five days ago and that troops from the SSA-North had passed through his village.
SSA-North Brigade No. 1 is based in Kehsi Township in southern Shan State. Brigade No. 3 is based in Mongyai Township in northern Shan State, and Brigade No. 7 is based in Hsipaw Township, which is also in the northern part of the state.
Saengjuen Sarawin, an editor with the Shan Herald Agency for News, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the Tatmadaw had been passing down instructions to their troops to launch attacks on the SSA-North since Sept. 1.
“What I think is that this clash is not an offensive action by the Tatmadaw, but a military strategy to seal the way out of southern State State,” he said.
The SSA-North signed a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese regime in 1989. The original agreement allowed the Shan militia to retain arms and granted them several business concessions, particularly in logging and tax collection.
Last year, however, Burmese commanders began pressuring all the ethnic cease-fire groups to transform their battalions into border guard forces (BGFs); their latest deadline for the SSA-North expired on April 22.
Sources have said that the SSA-North is likely to split into two factions due to a disagreement over whether to join the military regime's BGF plan.
An SSA-North official emphasized that they expect more hostilities in the area and that they are ready to respond to any attack.
“The Burmese government forces have reinforced to about 1,000 soldiers in the region,” he said. “Tensions are high.”
He pointed out that local people were cut off from fleeing to the Thai border and that villagers could face ill-treatment and torture at the hands of the Tatmadaw.
The Burmese regime signed cease-fire agreements with several ethnic groups over the past 21 years—including the SSA-North, the United Wa State Army, the Kachin Independence Organization, the Kokang army (officially called the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army), and the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army.
However, since the regime tried to implement a BGF plan in eastern Burma, tensions have mounted and the ethnic armies have formed alliances against the Tatmadaw.
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