Ethnic armed groups clash in southern Shan State as Operation 1027 continues to the north

The Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) captured five members of a rival Shan armed group after fighting resumed between them this week in southern Shan State’s Yatsauk (Lawksawk) Township, the RCSS/SSA said in a public statement. The rival group was the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), which agreed to a temporary ceasefire with the RCSS/SSA in November 2023. The renewed hostilities between the groups broke out during the ongoing second phase of Operation 1027, a coordinated offensive by the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed groups against military targets in the northern subdivision of Shan State. According to Maj. Hkam San, the vice secretary of RCSS/SSA, the clash resulted from SSPP/SSA troops attacking an RCSS/SSA base. In response to the attack, the RCSS/SSA managed to surround a base manned by SSPP/SSA fighters, capturing several of them and seizing eight rifles and a grenade launcher. The RCSS/SSA will try to negotiate with the SSPP/SSA regarding the attacks, Maj. Hkam San said, adding that the RCSS/SSA would not regard the captured SSPP/SSA members as enemies, but that they could face jail time depending on the outcome of their investigations. “We will try to lighten their punishment because we don’t see them as enemies, but we can’t say how lenient we can be until we’re done with our investigation. We will seek to find out if they tortured civilians and how often they’ve taken up arms against the RCSS/SSA,” he said. Myanmar Now attempted to contact Brig-Gen Sai Su, the vice secretary of SSPP/SSA, for comment on the battle, but all calls went unanswered. An attack by the RCSS/SSA on an SSPP/SSA column in southern Shan State’s Hopong and Yatsauk townships sparked another battle between the two groups last month. At that time, Brig-Gen Sai Su told Myanmar Now that RCSS/SSA troops had set explosives for the SSPP/SSA to trigger at least ten times, and that the RCSS/SSA did not heed their requests to resolve the conflict. While the two Shan armed groups had agreed to a temporary truce late last year, they did not come to an agreement regarding territorial control or a shared political stance, leaving open the possibility that conflict would break out again. A researcher studying ethnic affairs in Myanmar noted that the conflict between the rival Shan groups was one of many going on in the country and that an imminent solution was unlikely. “These are things we just cannot stop, as even the Burmese armed groups are fighting among themselves due to differences in standpoints,” the researcher said. The RCSS/SSA was a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), a major ceasefire agreement concluded between the government of Myanmar and various ethnic armed groups in 2015. The SSPP/SSA did not sign the NCA. The RCSS/SSA is also a member of the Seven EAO Alliance, a coalition founded in March of this year with the intention to negotiate political matters between the regime and the EAOs that entered into the ceasefire. The SSPP/SSA is a member of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), which is made up of seven ethnic armed groups based in northern Myanmar. It has close ties to the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a leading FPNCC member and one of the largest ethnic armed groups in Myanmar. However, its relations are more strained with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the powerful armed group currently leading the Brotherhood Alliance’s Operation 1027 offensive against junta forces in northern Shan State and neighbouring areas of Mandalay Region. Local sources have voiced concerns about rising tensions in Shan State since July 13, when masses of SSPP/SSA fighters, along with UWSA forces, entered Lashio District’s Mongyai Township, now under the control of the Kokang ethnic armed group Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, a TNLA ally.

Ethnic armed groups clash in southern Shan State as Operation 1027 continues to the north

Renewed hostilities between the rival armed organisations SSPP/SSA and RCSS/SSA may contribute to rising tensions among various powerful groups in Shan State, including those currently fighting the junta in the second phase of Operation 1027

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