Burma Army attacks RCSS/SSA in northern Shan State
Burmese
government forces on Monday attacked the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan
State Army (RCSS/SSA), according to an official from the RCSS/SSA.
An RCSS/SSA
official who requested anonymity told Shan Herald that a unit under
Division 33 of the Tatmadaw [Burma Army] launched an offensive on
RCSS/SSA forces in the Namtu sub-township areas of Mong Tat and Mong Maw in northern
Shan State’s Kyaukme Township. He said that the offensive led to casualties on
both sides.
“The
Tatmadaw knew that the RCSS/SSA troops were in the area,” a source close to the
RCSS/SSA said on condition of anonymity. “The RCSS troops were unaware that the
government unit would attack them, so there were a few casualties on their side.”
He added: “Fighting
lasted a while before both groups reached a compromise.”
On the same
day, the RCSS/SSA also clashed in a nearby area with the Ta’ang National
Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group who were denied status to sign
the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement by the government in October last year. The
RCSS/SSA is a signatory to the NCA, and was the first ethnic armed group to
sign a bilateral truce with the government, in November 2011.
Fighting
between TNLA and RCSS/SSA first broke out in November last year, only a month after
the signing of the so-called NCA between eight ethnic armed groups and the
government led by President Thein Sein.
The Burmese
military has announced that the TNLA must disarm before joining the peace process.
BY: Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: News, War
