Thread: Kachin Independence Army Teams Up with Other Fighters in Myanmar Attack

Blaming the government’s military actions in the region, one of Myanmar's most powerful ethnic militias, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), joined three smaller groups in a weekend attack on 10 government targets in the country’s northern provinces.

Amid conflicting reports on casualties, RFA’s Myanmar Service has learned that least nine people were killed and 29 wounded as the coalition pressed a coordinated attack on military and police outposts and a business center.

The KIA joined the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army (AA) in the offensive that took place in the 105-mile trade zone in Kutkai township.

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Office announced that in addition to police and military installations, the Thein Ni-Namtu, Nant Pon and Swon Lon bridges came under attack.

"The Burma armed forces have been assaulting to destroy all political and military struggles of the ethnic peoples because they have no will to solve Myanmar's political problem by politically peaceful negotiation methods," the four groups said in a statement.

The alliance warned civilians in the area to avoid travel and to stay in a safe place.

“We issue this statement because we don’t want ordinary civilians to suffer,” AA information officer Kaing Thuka told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

“We, as the Northern Alliance, will respond accordingly if the Burmese Army tries to give us more military pressure,” he said. “All this happens because the government had left out some of the armed groups in the peace process.”

None of the four groups signed onto the country’s 2015 nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). But the KIA’s political arm, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), took part in Aung San Suu Kyi’s 21-Century Panglong Conference, also known as the Union Peace Conference, in August.

Complicating the peace process

The AA, MNDAA and TNLA were not invited to participate because they have refused to lay down their arms in advance of the talks.

One of the government's peace negotiators, Hla Maung Shwe, told Reuters the fresh violence may severely delay the peace process.

"It was really regrettable that civilian areas have come under attack,” he said. “This is likely to further complicate the peace process.”

Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de-facto leader, had high hopes that the conference would help lead to lasting peace in Myanmar after decades of the ethnic separatist civil wars that have followed its independence from British colonial rule in 1948.

Aung San Suu Kyi has little control over the military as the home, defense, border affairs ministries are appointed by the army commander-in-chief under a constitution written by the army.

The military didn’t sound like it was prepared to back down on Monday.

"We will increase the operations to secure these areas and protect the civilians," said Ministry of Defense spokesman Major General Aung Ye Win. He did not comment on questions regarding the military's next steps, Reuters reported.

Burma’s military has actively engaged in military offensives using heavy artillery and airstrikes against the four groups in Kachin and Shan states, where they are based.

Thousands seek safety

Shan State Police Chief Aung Aung told RFA that thousands of people had fled to Muse seeking shelter from the fighting.

“About 2,000 people from those areas and nearby villages have arrived in Muse and are being looked after in five separate places,” Aung Aung said.

The fighting has alarmed Myanmar’s neighbors and China put its military on alert after a stray bullet from the fighting reportedly wounded a Chinese resident.

Border trade with China has stopped because of the fighting. Some 80 trucks carrying produce were stopped near the border.

“Border trade is disrupted and the Chinese merchants dare not come to Mile 105 Border Trade Office, and so we have to go as far as Wanteng inside China to sell our produce,” a watermelon farmer told RFA.

Kachin Independence Army Teams Up with Other Fighters in Myanmar Attack

Fearing Spillover of Rebel Attacks, Police Step up Security in Myanmar’s Kachin State

Police in Myanmar’s northernmost Kachin state have increased security amid fighting by four ethnic militias that have joined forces to attack government targets in neighboring Shan state, leaving 10 dead and forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes.

On Tuesday, fighting flared up between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and government army along the Mongkaung-Hpakant road, which stretches from Shan state to Kachin state, prompting police to increase security, said Lieutenant Colonel Myo Thura Naung of the state’s police force.

“We have warned our police to be very careful and remain alert about the security [situation],” he said.

On Sunday, the KIA, Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Arakan Army (AA) launched coordinated attacks on military outposts, police stations, and a trade center in Muse and Kutkai townships in northern Shan state.

Ten people have been killed near Muse, a town known for cross-border trade and smuggling, according to the office of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been overseeing the peace process to end fighting between ethnic armed groups and the government military.

Thirty-three others have been injured in the clashes, her office said.

Some of the residents of Muse, which sits on the Shweli River across from Ruili in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, have fled over the border after hearing rumors about the clashes, local residents said.

All shops and homes in Muse had closed their doors on Tuesday morning, and the situation there was stable as of evening, residents said.

Muse resident Naw Bauk told RFA’s Myanmar Service that district administrators and township police officers advised community leaders not to worry as police beefed up security in the town.

“The town is silent because local residents are becoming afraid and fleeing,” he said. “No official announcement has been issued yet. Some people have warned others by shouting [in the Shan language] for them not to be concerned and to remain at home. But because the Burmese don’t understand the language, they are running and fleeing.”

Patrolling the roadways

The four militias on Monday released a joint statement requesting civilians in the area to take precautions, according to the Shan Herald Agency for News.

The statement also said that the Myanmar military had continued to attack ethnic armed groups, including those that signed a nationwide cease-fire accord with government in October 2015. The government excluded the AA, MNDAA, and TNLA from signing the agreement.

The same day the statement was issued, clashes occurred at Nangpatlun village between Kutkai and Muse, and armed groups stopped a car along the Kutkai-Muse road and detained the driver and passengers, according to locals.

In response, the government military has positioned security guards along the Lashio-Muse highway, they said.

Local residents also said the KIA, MNDAA and AA attacked the Muse police station, damaging shops in the vicinity though no one was injured.

Meanwhile, activities along the 105-mile trade zone southeast of Muse in Shan state’s Kutkai township have come to a standstill because of the clashes, and the militia groups have warned locals not to travel, residents said.

“The trade flow stopped for the entire day,” said Tun Oo, the general secretary of the Muse-Namkham Trade Association.

Armed groups took car keys from every vehicle, said truck driver Sine Myint.

“Drivers who had extra keys drove away, but we had to sleep in the cab because we didn’t have an extra key,” he said. “Armed groups opened fire on us while we were sleeping and wounded my elder brother in the arm.”

Heading across the border

Those who fled from villages because of the hostilities are staying at monasteries in Muse, where there are now more than 2,600 internally displaced people, residents said.

About 3,000 others have fled to China to escape the fighting, where they are being provided with shelter and medical care, according to China’s foreign ministry. The country has put its security forces on high alert in response to the clashes.

Thaung Tun, who works for Garuna Free Funeral Service, said his firm was not only arranging funerals for those who have died, but also helping injured people and delivering food and medicine.

Hong Liang, China’s ambassador to Myanmar, on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire in the northern part of the country while attending the opening ceremony of the new Myanmar Chinese Cooperation & Communication Center and Chinese Enterprises Chamber in Myanmar Tuesday in Yangon.

Hong said China is very concerned about the conflicts and urges all parties involved to exercise restraint and take measures to reach an immediate ceasefire so that peace can be restord along the border area, according to an embassy news release.

He also said China supports Myanmar’s peace progress, and that the only path to real national reconciliation and long-term peace is through peaceful negotiations.

Tin Maung Htun, speaker of Yangon’s regional parliament, attended the opening ceremony along with dozens of representatives from Chinese and Myanmar enterprises.

Kachin and Shan states are hotbeds of illegal drug and smuggling activities where ethnic rebels have engaged in periodic hostilities with the Myanmar army during the last few years.

Fearing Spillover of Rebel Attacks, Police Step up Security in Myanmar?s Kachin State

Talks Between Myanmar Government And Ethnic Militias in Shan State Break Down

Talks between four ethnic armed groups and Myanmar peace officials about recent clashes in northern Shan state broke down on Friday in the latest blow to the civilian administration’s efforts to forge peace and national reconciliation.

Government peace envoy Tin Myo Win and representatives from the government’s Peace Commission were set to hold talks with officers from the Northern Alliance—the Arakan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—in Kunming, capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan province.

“The planned meeting has been cancelled because the negotiations were not successful,” Col. Ta Hpone Kyaw of the TNLA told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “Tin Myo Win has returned home, and we’ll be going back too.”

China’s foreign ministry had arranged for the two sides to meet, he said.

The country had deployed more soldiers and weapons along its border with Myanmar’s Shan state after the current round of hostilities began on Nov. 22. China has provided shelter and health services to about 3,000 Myanmar citizens who have fled the clashes, which have continued.

But while the Chinese and the Northern Alliance wanted all four ethnic militias to participate, Tin Myo Win said government representatives would meet separately with the groups, because even if a multilateral meeting were held, the KIA could not be included, Ta Hpone Kyaw said.

“The Peace Commission has no plans to meet all four groups,” Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay told RFA’s Myanmar Service earlier.

Representatives from the Mongla militia and United Wa State Army were also present, though they had met earlier with Tin Myo Win.

“We don’t know exactly why [we couldn’t all meet together],” Ta Hpone Kyaw said. “The Chinese side just told us there wouldn’t be any talks, and we were told that even if the talks were held, the Myanmar officials wanted to talk more about signing the [government’s] nationwide cease-fire agreement rather than the latest fighting in the border area.”

“I think they do not have enough authority to make any decisions,” he said.


The negotiating table

Myanmar’s civilian government, which came to power in April, has made peace and national reconciliation its primary goal so that the country can put decades of civil war behind it and move forward with its political and economic development.

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is spearheading efforts to bring ethnic militias to the negotiating table and have them sign a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) that eight groups signed with the previous government in October 2015.

She held the 21st-Century Panglong Conference in late August to bring the parties to the negotiating table, though no agreement was reached.

The KIA has not signed the NCA, and the three other ethnic armies were excluded from the Oct. 2015 pact because of their ongoing hostilities with Myanmar’s armed forces. Leaders from the KIA’s political wing, however, joined the Panglong Conference in late August in what they called a show of goodwill.

The latest bout of hostilities in northern Shan state began when the Northern Alliance launched coordinated attacks on 10 government and military targets in the Muse township villages of Mong Ko and Pang Zai, the 105-mile border trade zone between Myanmar and China, and areas of Namkham and Kutkai townships.

The ethnic militias have said that they engaged in the limited war in response to offensives by national army soldiers in the long-restive area. More than 10 civilians have been killed and 40 have been injured, as the fighting continues.

On Friday, Defense Minister Lieutenant General Sein Win moved that the lower house of parliament consider naming the Northern Alliance a coalition a terrorist organization because of its killing and injuring civilians and damaging infrastructure and public property.

Lawmakers, however, rejected the motion.

So far, more than 10 civilians have been killed, 40 have been injured, and thousands have fled their homes for safer places.

Rakhine investigation commission formed
Northern Shan state meanwhile isn’t the only region posing a challenge to the administration’s goal of lasting peace.

Security forces in the northwestern part of Rakhine state are continuing their lockdown of the area following deadly attacks on three border guard posts in October that have been blamed on Rohingya Muslim militants.

Army soldiers have been accused of killing civilians, raping women and girls, burning down homes in Rohingya communities, and driving away tens of thousands of residents.

The office of President Htin Kyaw on Friday announced the formation of a 13-member investigative commission to examine the situation that led to the border guard station attacks and subsequent violence on Nov. 12-13 in Maungdaw as well as to verify the allegations of rights abuses during the security operations.

The commission, headed by Vice President Myint Swe, must submit a report of its investigation, including recommendations for the area’s stability, to the president by Jan. 31, 2017.

Meanwhile, former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, who is chairman of government-appointed commission looking into conflict resolution, humanitarian assistance, and development issues in the divided and impoverished state, faced protesters on Friday when he arrived in the state capital Sittwe for a visit.

He told reporters that the commission members will visit Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships in northwestern Rakhine on Saturday to see for themselves what has occurred there.

“We have not had any indication that there will be restrictions on us,” he said in response to a question. “Obviously, we are not going to be there for a very long time, but we’re going to try to see as much as possible and to relate to as many people on the ground as we can.”

Annan also said that he expects progress to be made with allowing humanitarian assistance into the area. So far, only Myanmar groups providing food and other necessities have been allowed into the security zone, while other international aid organizations have been kept out.

“Security action should not impede humanitarian assistance to those in need,” he said.

About 70 members of the Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the interest of the ethnic Rakhine people in the state, lined the avenue from the airport into Sittwe on Friday to protest his visit, the second one he has made as head of the commission.

The ANC is demanding that the commission be dissolved, fearing that its three foreign members, including Annan, will automatically side with the Rohingya.

“The Rakhine state government has already said that it doesn’t recognize this commission, so why has it ignored their decision and is [now] moving forward?” Tun Hla of the ANP asked RFA. “That’s why we are protesting.”

Protest leader Aung Ko Moe noted that Annan used the term “Rohingya” at a news conference in Sittwe during his first visit to the state in September, which “encourages the Muslims and could lead to more problems.”

Most people in majority-Buddhist Myanmar refer to the stateless Rohingya as “Bengalis” because they consider them illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and discriminate against them, though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Annan and other members of his party met with state government officials and later held a closed-door meeting with town elders.

He plans to visit the conflict-ridden areas in Maungdaw township on Saturday. Almost 90 people have been killed in the crackdown and thousands of others have been forced to flee to Bangladesh.


‘Bigger fires of resentment’

Aung San Suu Kyi took the international community to task on Friday, accusing it of stirring up further animosity between Buddhists and Muslims in northwestern Rakhine.

“I would appreciate it so much if the international community would help us to maintain peace and stability, and to make progress in building better relations between the two communities, instead of always drumming up cause for bigger fires of resentment,” Aung San Suu Kyi told Singapore broadcaster Channel News Asia during her visit to the city-state.

“It doesn't help if everybody is just concentrating on the negative side of the situation, in spite of the fact that there were attacks against police outposts,” she said.

Talks Between Myanmar Government And Ethnic Militias in Shan State Break Down