panglong news
Lt-Col Khun Kyaw aka Than Gyaung, Shan State Army (SSA) South, who is under criminal charges is not among Shan rebels released today. He sees his former inmates and colleagues off. He is in good shape and spirits, according to one of them. (SHAN)
The Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ sent a letter of protest to Gen Soe Win, Deputy Supreme Commander and Commander of the Burma Army, yesterday following a clash which took place in Laikha, Shan State South, on Wednesday, 27 June.
An SSA patrol was attacked by Burma Army patrol from Infantry Battalion 64, based in Laikha, near Mark Khi Nu mountain, Wan Yerng tract, Laikha township, according to the letter.
This latest clash marks the 24th military confrontations between the two sides since the ceasefire agreement was signed on 2 December 2011, and the 7th since Gen Soe Win first attended the negotiations on 19 May.
Lt. Gen. Yawdserk, left, leader of Shan State Army (SSA), and Gen. Soe Win, chief of Myanmar government negotiation group, shake hands during their meeting in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, Myanmar, Saturday, May 19, 2012. It was second round of peace talks between the government and Shan rebels. Photo: Khin Maung Win / AP
The letter, dated 28 June 2012, and signed by the SSA’s chief liaison officer Brig-Gen Sai Lu, said. “The clashes are taking a terrible toll on the trust-building process.”
So far, there is no response from Gen Soe Win.
The 6 previous clashes, as reported by SHAN, were:
23 May 2012 Pongpakhem, Mongton township, where the Burma Army was “in search of a deserter”
2 June 2012 SSA unit assigned to jointly conduct survey with the Burma Army in Monghta shelled by the Burma Army
16 June 2012 Infantry Battalions (IBs) 225 and 65 attack SSA base in Pongpakhem, Mongton township
17 June 2012 Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 515 attacks SSA base in Ook Look, Namhsan township
19 June 2012 IB 249 patrol ran into SSA patrol near Na Lawn village, Pang Poi tract, Mongkeung township, due to non-advance notification as agreed earlier
19 June 2012 LIB 575 column attacking SSA at Hsaikhao, Kunhing township
On the other hand, the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), as the SSA South is officially known, has been allowed to hold public consultations on current political, military, social and economic situation by Naypyitaw. It was also been discussing with state level Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), Burma’s answer to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Thailand’s Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB). Both sides so far have agreed that cooperation from all state agencies, especially the military, is necessary, if a meaningful result is to be achieved on the drug front.
The United Wa State Army’s Mongyawn-based 518th Brigade and Hwe Aw-based 775th Brigade dispatched some 400 strong force to Monghsat township’s Mong Toom-Mong Karn area, opposite Chiangrai’s Mae Fa Luang district on 16 June. The Royal Thai Army, fearing clashes along its borders, has warned the UWSA not to start a conflict that will trigger thousands of refugees into Thailand. The Shan State Army (SSA) South and Burma Army-run People’s Militia Forces (PMFs) are also active in the area. (SHAN) panglomg org
In accordance with the agreement signed last month in Kengtung, the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) is organizing field trips inside Shan State for public consultations on key political issues, said the group’s head of negotiations Brig-Gen Pawng Kherh.
Lt Gen Yawdserk, Gen Soe Win, U Than Htay and Brig Gen Pawng Kherh toasting after the agreement was signed on 19 May in Kengtung (Photo: AP)
The three issues they are planning to discuss are:
The RCSS/SSA, commonly known as SSA South, is also expected to consult with the people as well as individuals and parties on other questions posed by the government’s peacemaking team on 19 May, such as:
“Our team will be divided into 3 sub-teams to meet the people in all 3 parts of Shan State,” he said. Continue reading “SSA South to begin public consultations soon”
Fierce clashes between government troops and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South) broke out southeast of Mongyawng Township, Shan State, on Sunday despite a ceasefire agreement being in place.
“The fight started at 7 am and took one-and-a- half hours,” said SSA-South spokesman Maj Sai Lao Hseng. “Government troops from Light Infantry Battalion No. 573 launched the attack first from where they were based.”
One government soldier was killed and three others were wounded from the encounter, but no troops from the SSA-South were hurt, he claimed.
Clashes have occurred three times this month as the Burmese military puts pressure on the ethnic Shan militia to vacate their bases in Mongyawng Township, according to the SSA-South.
Burmese government troops seized a rebel base during a separate clash on March 11, which apparently was close to Monglar troops stationed near the Chinese border.
“We believed that they are worried that we would become friends with the Monglar troops,” said Sai Lao Hseng. “This is why they fought and took this base in order to make a divide between the Monglar and ourselves.”
The current ceasefire was agreed in Shan State capital Taunggyi in December by representatives of the SSA-South and Burma’s Railway Minister Aung Min, who is Naypyidaw’s chief peace negotiator dealing with ethnic armed groups.
Forces from either side must inform the other before traveling in enemy-controlled areas, according to the ceasefire agreement. However, government troops did not give any prior warning that they were entering rebel-held territory, claims the SSA-South.
Clashes between government troops and the SSA-South have reportedly occurred 14 times since the December ceasefire agreement.
Burma’s President Thein Sein has vowed to end ethnic armed conflicts and even ordered Burmese troops to stop fighting rebel militias. Despite this, government armed forces are still locked in battle with the Kachin Independence Army in northern Burma.
15.february 2012 The Shan State Army (SSA) South that signed a ceasefire agreement on 2 December will not be able to send survey teams to Homong and Mong Hta areas in order to locate sites for resettlement of displaced people tomorrow, said SSA leader Yawdserk this morning. The Triangle Region Command, based in Kengtung, had informed him that no instructions have been received so far, with regards to the implementation of the 16 January agreement that had assigned the Homong-Monghta area as a special development zone for the SSA. (SHAN)
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Light Infantry Battalion # 506 and Light Infantry Battalion #115, mistakenly exchanged fire on 8 February. It took 20 minutes of fighting, with at least 2 dead, to learn the mistake. LIB 115 is notorious for looting the locals. (SHAN)
The Shan State Government had accepted the 4 point proposal presented by the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ “in principle” at the formal meeting held today in Taunggyi, said Gen Yawdserk. No details have been provided. The said 4 points are ceasefire, political negotiations, development and cooperation against drugs. (SHAN)
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The Burmese government on Friday signed a ceasefire agreement at state level with the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South), one of the major ethnic militias in Burma’s restive border regions, while its military operations show no sign of abating in Kachin State.
According to official sources at the meeting in Taunggyi between representatives of the Shan State administration and the SSA-South, led by Brig-Gen Sai Lu, the agreement included not only a ceasefire, but government assurances of economic development, a joint-task force working against illegal drugs in Shan State, and the opening of liaison offices.
Sources say the next step in the truce is to hold a series of negotiations between a Union-level peace committee and the SSA-South.
“The ceasefire agreement was signed today with consensus on eight points,” said a participant at the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The first is the ceasefire itself, then the delivery of the ceasefire agreement to all related troops; also there will be continuous talks on the subject of peace and development; working together on anti-drugs operations; and the opening of liaison offices in five townships in Shan State—Taunggyi, Kengtung, Kolan, Tachilek and Mongton. Continue reading “Shan State Government had accepted the 4 point proposal presented by the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’”
The remains of Lt-Col Than Htike Way, Commander of the Faikhun (Pekhon) based Light Infantry Battalion 422, who was killed in an ambush staged by the Shan State Army (SSA) “South” on 9 May in Mongkeung, given a hero’s reception by Burmese troops in every town it passed through yesterday on the way to the battalion’s home base, according to local sources. (SHAN)
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SSA ‘South’ (Photo: S.H.A.N.)
The death included Faikhun (Pekhon) based Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 422 commander Lt-Col Than Htike Way, Sergeant Major Soe Myint, Sergeant Htun Aung, Sergeant Thein Hlaing, Coporal Htun Htun Lwin, Corporal Kyaw Soe Min, Corporal Htun Khaing and privates Ko Zaw and Myo Zaw Oo, according to SSA sources.
The attack took place on 9 May at 3:45, on the way between Tonglao and Hsataw, where the Burma Army troops were coming in a Tolaji (Chinese made farm tractor). The attack lasted about an hour.
The civilian Tolaji driver was also reportedly killed in the attack. The SSA said it suffered no casualties on its side.
“We received the information in advance, because the battalion is loathed by the local population for its excesses,” said an SSA officer.
According to the SSA, the reason there were many non-commissioned officers among the casualties was because they had just finished the non-commissioned officers training course and were sent to inspect the areas in order to familiarize themselves with the terrain.
Both the SSA ‘South’ and the SSA ‘North’ have been employing mobile tactics against the Burma Army which have caused many casualties on the Burma Army side.
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