Tension has risen between the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and Myanmar’s regime in Laihka Township, Shan State, with the deployment of regime reinforcements.
The SSPP said it is preparing to fight the junta after an order on June 9 to abandon 10 outposts in the township. The armed group has ignored the demands.
The SSPP said on Friday that the junta has deployed 81mm artillery near Loi Nam Ton mountain in the south of the township between Laihka and Panglong.
Around 300 junta troops have been deployed in SSPP territory near Nar Min and Kaung San villages.
An SSPP commander said his troops are prepared to fight.
“If they attack, we will be ready to fight back,” he said.
The 10 SSPP outposts are key to the Kholam Regional Command and the important Laihka-Panglong road, according to a Shan State military analyst, who added that clashes are likely.
The SSPP commander told The Irrawaddy: “The junta is bluffing because it wants us to retreat but its forces cannot compete with us on the ground.”
He said the junta announced the deployment of 60 commandos and the laying of landmines but it was exaggerating about the strength of its forces. The commander said some junta troops have defected to the SSPP.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
In 2015, Myanmar’s military attacked the SSPP in central Shan State. Since then the SSPP has moved south and now controls three major routes and has taken positions within the junta’s Eastern Central Command.
