Ethnic Issues

In his New Year’s address, Peng Daxun dropped his previous anti-junta rhetoric and focused on working with China to boost stability and development in the Kokang region.

Karenni Nationalities Defence Force chairman Khun Bedu tells The Irrawaddy that victory feels within his grasp this year.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army is strengthening its grip on the northern Shan State capital amid reports that Beijing is demanding a withdrawal.  

The move is aimed at pressuring the ethnic armed group to leave Lashio, sources said.

The UWSA assumed control of Hopang and Panlong towns in northern Shan State after the Brotherhood Alliance seized them from the junta earlier this year.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army has banned its members from joining international peace efforts or speaking to the media, allegedly at Beijing’s command.

Junta bombings, communication breakdown, blackouts and soaring prices mean daily hardship for Rakhine residents of towns captured by the ethnic army.

The regime’s continued airstrikes are undermining the MNDAA’s efforts to end the conflict in northern Shan State, the ethnic armed group said.

The move means the regime will no longer engage in talks with the AA, TNLA and MNDAA, which have seized swathes of territory in Rakhine, Shan and Mandalay since October.

Junta denies claims that town and Northeastern Command have fallen as locals report pockets of fighting.