Myanmar alliance agrees to 4-day ceasefire with military in Shan state

Myanmar alliance agrees to 4-day ceasefire with military in Shan state

The deal follows weeks of clashes during which armed groups seized territory from the military.

Myanmar-Shan-fighting-AFP
Northern Shan state has been rocked by fighting since late June, when the Three Brotherhood Alliance renewed an offensive against military forces. (AFP pic)
YANGON:
An alliance of Myanmar ethnic minority armed groups today said it had agreed to a four-day ceasefire with the junta in northern Shan state following weeks of clashes in which it seized territory from the military, along with a key highway to China.

“We… showed cooperation with China by agreeing to a four-day ceasefire in Northern Shan” from 14-18 July, Major-General Tar Bhone Kyaw of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the members of the alliance, told AFP.

Northern Shan state has been rocked by fighting since late last month, when the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance renewed an offensive against the military along the road to China’s Yunnan province.

The clashes shredded a previous Beijing-brokered truce that in January halted an offensive by the alliance, made up of the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the TNLA.

The new four-day agreement did not cover the neighbouring Mandalay region, where members of the alliance and other opponents of the military have been battling junta troops in recent weeks, Tar Bhone Kyaw said.

AFP was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment.

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