3 months ago
37
An alliance of armed ethnic groups in Myanmar has extended a ceasefire with the junta in northern Shan state until July 31, following pressure from Beijing. The ceasefire, initially set for July 14-18, aims to halt fighting along a strategic highway to China read more
 "Here's why Beijing is involved")
China is a key ally and arms supplier to the junta, but also maintains ties with armed ethnic groups. Reuters
In Myanmar, an alliance of armed groups has agreed to extend a ceasefire with the junta in northern Shan state. The move has come after “pressure” from Beijing, a leader of one of the groups said on Saturday (July 20).
The alliance of ethnic minority armed groups – made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) – initially agreed to a four-day ceasefire from July 14-18. This has now been extended to July 31. A third member of the alliance, the Arakan Army, did not agree to the ceasefire.
The alliance’s fighters recently seized territory from the military along a strategic highway to China.
Why China is involved
“China put a lot of pressure on us to have a ceasefire immediately,” the leader from the TNLA told AFP, requesting anonymity. “Therefore, we have to do it as we can’t avoid it.”
The leader warned that if junta troops launched offensives on the alliance’s troops or if they continued to bomb civilians during the ceasefire, they would “attack back”.
However, the leader warned that if junta troops launched offensives on the alliance’s troops or if they continued to bomb civilians during the ceasefire, they would “attack back”.
The Shan state has been rocked by fighting since late last month, when the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance renewed an offensive against junta troops along the road to China’s Yunnan province. The clashes that have happened here since last month shredded a previous Beijing-brokered truce that in January halted an earlier push by the three groups.
China is a key ally and arms supplier to the junta, but analysts say it also maintains ties with armed ethnic groups in Myanmar that hold territory near its border.
The civil war in Myanmar
Fighting broke out in Myanmar after the military’s ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in a coup in 2021. Myanmar’s borderlands are home to myriad ethnic armed groups who have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 for autonomy and control of lucrative resources.
Some have given shelter and training to newer “People’s Defence Forces” (PDFs) that have sprung up to battle the military after the coup in 2021.
With inputs from AFP
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
English (US) ·