CHIANG MAI- After suffering heavy attacks from Burma’s army, the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) has lost its camp at Red Ruby Mountain in Mongsu, a township in southern Shan State.
A SSA-N commander on the frontlines told the Shan Herald that “The Burmese army started attacking us at Mongsu in Ruby Mountain on June 11th. They fired at us with heavy shells for two days, so local people were affected by the fierce battle. Upon receiving orders from our headquarters, we withdrew from the camp.”
The commander added, “The Burmese army forced local people to work as porters and human shields on the frontline. We were [therefore] requested by locals not to ambush or shoot at the frontlines. If we had, the villagers and porters would have gotten shot.”
Speaking on behalf of the SSA-N’s political wing, the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), spokesperson Major Sai Hla said that “[The Mongsu camp] wasn’t our permanent base, just a temporary camp which we used only in the rainy season.”
Burma’s army has recently deployed more troops in northern Shan State around territory controlled by SSA-N/SSPP and the United Wa State Army (UWSA). “The situation is still tense between the two sides,” said a villager in the area interviewed by the Shan Herald.
The SSA-N/SSPP signed a ceasefire with the Naypyidaw in early 2012, but the Independent Mon New Agency recently said that Burmese media outlets have reported that fighting has occurred over 100 times between government forces and the two major Shan armed groups in Shan State—the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S).
