In response to the Burma Army’s attack of the Shan State Army (SSA)’s border outpost on 9 May, Lt-Gen Yawd Serk, Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the SSA’s political arm, said the Burma Army should have communicated with the movement’s liaison offices to settle problems peacefully instead of resorting to force in violation of the ceasefire.
“They have been set up to ward off such incidents and both sides should make use of them,” he told SHAN. “Unfortunately, the Burma Army has rarely taken full advantage of them.”
Lt-Gen Yawd Serk, Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) (Photo: SHAN)
The two sides have engaged in more than 50 clashes, not counting those with the Burma Army-run People’s Militia Forces (PMFs), since the ceasefire was signed on 2 December 2011, according to the movement’s spokesmen.
The RCSS/SSA has 6 liaison offices throughout Shan State:
Taunggyi Headquarters of Eastern Region Command, Burma Army
Kholam Headquarters of Central Eastern Region Command, Burma Army
Kengtung Headquarters of Triangle Region Command, Burma Army
Muse Near Lashio, Headquarters of Northeastern Region Command, Burma Army
Monghsat Headquarters of Military Operations Command # 14, Burma Army
Tachilek Thai-Burmese border
Muse is the district seat of Muse. Namkham is one of the its three townships. The two towns are only 19 miles (31 km) from each other.
The latest fighting on the Sino-Burmese border in Namkham township was due to the SSA’s territorial expansion, forcible recruitment and collection of illegal tax, charged the military-owned Myawady newspaper on Sunday, 12 May 2013.
The RCSS/SSA has categorically rejected the accusation. “We have taken action on the drug trade and launched a treatment program for young drug users,” said Yawd Serk. “These activities, though supported by the local populace, had run counter to the drug syndicates and their allies in the government.”
The Panhsay PMF, lead by MP Kyaw Myint aka Li Yongqiang, based in Namkham township, is a well known drug producer in the area. He is reportedly well connected to the military.
The RCSS/SSA leader also pointed out that it was high time peace monitors, agreed by the two sides on 19 May 2012 to be set up by July 2012, becomes a reality. U Aung Min, Naypyitaw’s chief negotiator, however had put off the program saying regulations for peace monitors was still being drafted.
Dr Sai Ohn Kyaw, MP, People’s Assembly, Namkham township, deplored the fighting that had displaced more than a thousand people. “We don’t want war,” he said. “This is the age where we settle our differences and seek solutions to our problems at the table.”
