Burma : Ethnic Conflict Spreads to Shan State

Ethnic Conflict Spreads to Shan State
KO HTWE
Friday, November 12, 2010

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.

irrawaddy.org

Will this be the beginning of the end.. for the junta?

understand what your saying , however given the junta has morphed into civvies , suspect not :(

Burmese and Shan troops face off in fresh battle
Jai Wan Mai
Friday, 12 November 2010

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Fresh armed clashes broke out on Thursday between Shan troops and the Burmese Army near Wan Hai, Kesi Township, in northern Shan State, according to a Shan source.

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The firefight kicked off when a unit of the Light Infantry Division (LID) 33 ran into a patrol from Battalion 24 of the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) in the early evening. The battle lasted for 45 minutes from around 5.15 p.m., but details of the casualties on both sides were unavailable at the time of reporting.

The incident occurred at Kunkieng-Wanlwe, three miles (around five kilometres) west of Wanhsaw, a village near Wanhai, the SSA-N’s main base, the Shan Herald Agency for News reported.

According to the source: “Burmese troops are encroaching on our territory and the shooting took place in the jungle, not on the highway, because we put our security men there.”

Meanwhile, Burmese troops from Kunhing and Mongnawng townships in southern Shan State and Namlan and Hsipaw townships in northern Shan State reportedly moved forces troops into the Wanhai area, controlled by SSA-N Brigade 1 at Kesi Township, the source said.

Around 1,500 to 2,000 Burmese troops were already in the area, he said. The deployed Burmese troops were avoiding highways or well-travelled paths, change in tactics, making their way through the jungle to set up bases on mountains. This was carried out in the apparent belief of gaining a tactical advantage against the opposing ethnic groups.

The source added, LID 33 had already passed through the first checkpoint of the SSA-N and were about to enter the second before reaching to the main base of the SSA-N, when SSA-N troops confronted them and the clashes started.

SSA-S (non-ceasefire group) spokesman Sao Lao Hseng said: “The purpose of sending reinforcements against the 1st Brigade of the SSA-N is to cut off the communication lines between the SSA-N and outsiders, typically from the United Wa State Army (UWSA). It is to … block any outside assistance if fighting breaks out between the SSA-N and the Burmese troops.”

Tension between the ceasefire groups and Burmese troops has become explosive since ceasefire groups rejected being brought under Burmese Army command within the junta’s Border Guard Forces.

The frequency of clashes between SSA-N and Burmese troops has risen greatly since September, when Burmese troops launched the first of three attacks on the group.

Recently however the SSA-N had formed a military alliance with five other ethnic armed opposition groups in Chiang Mai, Thailand last week. The alliance comprises the Kachin Independence Organisation, New Mon State Party, and Shan State Army North (SSA-N); and non-ceasefire groups, the Karen National Union, the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Chin National Front.

The formation of the alliance was aimed at assisting each other if a member group was attacked by the Burmese Army.

mizzima.com

Junta Troops, Tanks Deployed to Shan Rebel Territory
KO HTWE
Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Burmese army has sent additional troops and at least 16 tanks to southern and central Shan State in a move aimed at increasing pressure on a breakaway faction of the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) that has refused to join the regime's Border Guard Force (BGF), according to sources.

The reinforcements are being deployed in areas controlled by SSA-N Brigade 7, based in Kunhing Township, and near the territory of SSA-N Brigade 1, which is based in Mong Hsnu Township, the sources said.
SSA-N Brigade 7 has accepted the Burmese regime's demand to transform its forces into a BGF under Burmese military command, while SSA-N Brigade 1, led by Col Pang Fa, has rejected the BGF plan.

Saengjuen Sarawin, an editor with the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the extra troops will likely be used to cut off communication between the breakaway faction of the cease-fire SSA-N and the non-cease-fire Shan State Army-South (SSA-S).

“[SSA-S leader] Col Yord Serk believes that the troops and weapons are being deployed in preparation for an offensive against SSA-N Brigade 1. The idea is to cut off contact between the SSA-S and the SSA-N and prevent the United Wa State Army from reaching the western bank of the Salween River if a battle takes place,” said Saengjuen Sarawin, referring to another cease-fire group that has also refused to join the BGF.

“After forming a new government, the regime will step up its efforts to eradicate armed groups based in central and southern Shan State,” he said, adding that SSA-N Brigade 7 has still not completed its transformation into a BGF.

The SSA-N consists of Brigades 1, 3 and 7. Brigade 1, which is reportedly the strongest of the three, recently exchanged gunfire in a series of skirmishes with government forces.

Due to the growing tensions in the area, Burmese authorities have been forcing local families to provide information about family members, prompting many young people to flee to neighboring China or Thailand to avoid being conscripted into the army, according to SSA-S spokesman Sai Lao Hseng.

In December, the commander of the Burmese army's Eastern Regional Command reportedly warned SSA-N Brigade 7 to avoid contact with SSA-N Brigade 1.irrawaddy.org