The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on Sunday announced a four-day halt in its operations against the military regime in northern Shan State, beginning Sunday and effective through 12 a.m. on Thursday, while the Communist Party of China holds a meeting.
“In order to respond positively to China’s concerns, at the time of the Third Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China, all combat troops are required to stop active offensives between 24:00 July 14 and 24:00 July 18,” reads Sunday’s bilingual statement by the MNDAA written in Chinese and English.
The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) started its third plenary session in Beijing on Monday morning.
Since early July, the MNDAA and its ally the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) have been attacking junta positions in northern Shan State’s capital Lashio, where the regime’s North Eastern Military Command is located.
The fighting has prompted thousands of the town’s residents to flee.
In its statement, the MNDAA said combat troops are required to stay where they are, but have the right to defend themselves if attacked.
“Commanders of all lines must demand strict compliance by their officers and men,” it said.
Prior to the MNDAA’s ceasefire announcement, the regime launched an air raid at 2 a.m. on Sunday on Laukkai, the capital of Kokang region, where the MNDAA is based, killing at least one civilian and injuring another while damaging several buildings including two hotels.
Along with the TNLA and the Rakhine-based Arakan Army, the MNDAA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, which launched Operation 1027 in October last year. The ethnic alliance seized several hundred junta frontline bases and military command centers, plus 24 battalion headquarters, around 20 towns, and vital trade routes with China before a truce was brokered by Beijing in mid-January.
However, the TNLA resumed the operation on June 25 after repeated junta bombardments of TNLA territory in June killed both fighters and civilians.
The TNLA has not said whether it will join the MNDAA’s ceasefire. The armed group’s spokesperson was not available for comment on Monday.
A local military analyst said it’s normal for China to ask ethnic armed groups on its border with Myanmar to halt fighting for reasons of “border stability”, especially when the CPC is holding a meeting.
“So, the fighting in Lashio and areas up to Kokang near the Chinese border will be halted for a while,” he said.
In addition to Lashio, the TNLA and allied People’s Defense Force groups have been fighting in areas in northern Mandalay Region.
“As the areas are far from the border, the fighting there is unlikely to be halted,” he said.
