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| Southeast Asia |
| Airstrikes reported as northern Myanmar conflict spreads |
| 2016-11-25 |
| [Dhaka Tribune] Over the past four days, 2,600 people have been displaced and are sheltering at monasteries in the town of Muse, while over 3,000 people have fled across the border into China. Myanmar Armed Forces called in air strikes on Wednesday as fighting between government troops and four ethnic gangs continued at several locations across four townships in northern Shan and Kachin states, according to a spokesperson for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a member of the ethnic alliance, reports Myanmar Times. Colonel Mong Aik Kyaw of the TNLA said festivities were reported in Namkham, Muse and Kutkai townships in northern Shan State, as well as Bhamaw township in Kachin State. He said air strikes were launched in at least two locations, though he did not know specifically where. "The fighting will not stop," said Col Mong Aik Kyaw. "The Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces, officially known as the Tatmadaw) is full of strength. There is always fighting in remote areas of the Ta’ang, Kachin and Shan peoples. Now we have taken the fight to the towns. The long-running war has made our people’s education and economic situations worse, so we decided to change the front." A response to the November 20 offensive by the four groups and its aftermath from the Union-level government came yesterday in the form of a statement from Aung San Suu Kyi in her capacity as chair of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre. "At a time when people of Myanmar are in process of striving for national reconciliation and peace that had remained elusive to them, it is extremely disappointing and saddening that these incidents are instigated," read her statement. |
| Posted by:Fred |