• Burmese
Thursday, May 22, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

‘Myanmar Army Will Be Responsible if We Are Forced to Attack’: Ethnic Alliance

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
October 30, 2019
in Burma
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Members of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army at the frontline in northern Shan State in September 2019. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Members of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army at the frontline in northern Shan State in September 2019. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

8.7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Myanmar army will bear sole responsibility for the consequences if its continued military operations against the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organizations force the latter to launch a counterattack, the ethnic bloc said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Brotherhood Alliance comprising the Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army issued a statement on Oct. 29 asking the Myanmar army to end its military offensives in the EAOs’ areas, and to hold genuine peace talks in order to build trust.

If the Myanmar army does not halt its ongoing military offensives against the three groups, the alliance said, “We reiterate the sentiment of our alliance that the Myanmar military will be solely responsible for the outcome of [its] continuing military offensive.”

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Junta ‘Seizes Eight TNLA Positions’

Myanmar Junta ‘Seizes Eight TNLA Positions’

May 9, 2025
2.1k
How China Manipulates Myanmar’s Ethnic Resistance

How China Manipulates Myanmar’s Ethnic Resistance

May 8, 2025
3.5k
What Should Anwar and ASEAN Do About Myanmar?

What Should Anwar and ASEAN Do About Myanmar?

May 8, 2025
981

The Myanmar military is using naval, helicopter and ground forces to attack the AA and the TNLA, with clashes breaking out almost every day in Rakhine State, according to the statement.

“Their action is based on racial hatred, and they have continued to use artillery shelling and machine guns day and night, torching homes, schools and religious buildings, and arbitrarily arresting civilians daily and torturing them,” the statement reads.

Responding to the statement, Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that, “We have never fired artillery shells into their territory or used helicopters to attack them. They announced a ceasefire, but they even attacked us in the town in Hseni. We would ask them whether the town of Hseni is inside their control area? In another case, in Kutkai, when we heard they came to collect taxes, our troops went to attack them. In another case at the pagoda in Namhsam, they had set up a base at the pagoda. Our troops attacked them, not civilians. They came to set up a base in our control area; it was not their control area.”

The Brotherhood Alliance earlier announced a unilateral ceasefire through the end of the year. In its statement, however, it accused the Myanmar army of taking advantage of the situation and continuing to intensify its serious offensive in ethnic Arakanese, Ta’ang and Kokang regions.

“We are compelled to make defensive counterattacks, individually or collectively. Such moves by the Myanmar military unavoidably harm the peace process, and upset the trust so far gained by all the parties concerned,” the statement reads.

Brigadier-General Tar Phone Kyaw of the TNLA said fighting had worsened in his group’s areas and those of the AA.

“We will lose trust as more fighting has broken out in our area. Therefore, we issued the statement in order to warn them and to try to reduce the fighting,” he said.

“We will have successful negotiations if they can reduce the fighting, we hope. But, if they continue to attack us, future peace negotiations will be threatened,” he added.

On the ground, the Myanmar army does whatever it wants, in stark contrast to what it says at the negotiating table with the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC), Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw said. He said the poor relations between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and the Myanmar government were partly to blame.

Since peace talks in Shan State’s Kengtung in September, the TNLA has been forced to withdraw from five military bases in Kutkai Township, according to Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw, due to attacks by the Tatmadaw.

He said it was too early to say how the alliance would respond if the Tatmadaw ignored the warning and continued to attack. He said the alliance would monitor the army’s actions first.

He warned civilians to stay in a safe location if fighting resumed near them. “If people are traveling, we ask them to listen to the news to see whether there is fighting in the area first,” he said.

The NRPC and the Northern Alliance—which comprises the Brotherhood Alliance plus the Kachin Independence Army—met twice in Kengtung for peace negotiations ultimately aimed at the signing of bilateral peace agreements. At the last round of peace talks in Kengtung in September, the two sides agreed to meet again in October. However, the NRPC delayed the talks, saying its officials were busy.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: AAattacksBrotherhood AllianceCeasefirecivilian casualtiesMNDAAMyanmar MilitaryPeace talksTatmadawTNLA
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
86.9k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.4k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses
Business

Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

by The Irrawaddy
November 27, 2023
38.3k

Jin San Jiao is latest northern Shan State trade hub in crosshairs of ethnic Brotherhood Alliance.

Read moreDetails
Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region
Burma

Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

by The Irrawaddy
November 25, 2023
30.9k

Chinese embassy urges citizens to flee Laukkai Town as ethnic armies prepare to drive Myanmar junta troops from Kokang’s capital.

Read moreDetails
China-Backed Illegal Rare Earth Mining Surging in Northern Myanmar
Burma

China-Backed Illegal Rare Earth Mining Surging in Northern Myanmar

by Yan Naing
July 15, 2022
34.7k

A Myanmar military-backed militia in Kachin State is protecting Chinese-run mines that produce coveted rare earth minerals used in hi-tech...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi greets US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell in Naypyitaw on Oct. 29, 2019. / Myanmar State Counselor’s Office

US Asst Secretary Pledges Continued Cooperation During Myanmar Visit

Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing marks the second anniversary of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2017. / Reuters

Myanmar Military’s Promises of Charter Change Fail to Impress Ethnic MPs

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

2 days ago
2.2k
Myanmar Junta Leader Scores Diplomatic Win With Xi Meeting in Moscow

Myanmar Junta Leader Scores Diplomatic Win With Xi Meeting in Moscow

6 days ago
1.3k

Most Read

  • We Can’t Help You, Myanmar Junta Tells Striking Workers at Adidas Factory

    We Can’t Help You, Myanmar Junta Tells Striking Workers at Adidas Factory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KNU Seizes Myanmar Junta Base on Thai Border

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 10 Men Killed by Indian Paramilitaries ‘Were Myanmar Resistance Fighters’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Kokang’s New Power Play: Economic Integration With China

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Two Myanmar Junta Choppers Down in Battle for Kachin’s Bhamo

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.