At the end of May, the Burmese army deployed about 20 truckloads of soldiers and 15 armored vehicles from Shan State’s capital of Taunggyi to Mongsu Township and from eastern Shan State’s largest town of Kengtung to Mongjarng Township. Both townships are located in northern Shan State near SSPP/SSA and UWSA territory.

Sai Hseng, a local villager, said: “The Burma Army deployed their troops by truck from Taunggyi and Kengtung to Mongsu Township. When they returned, the trucks were empty.”

He added that even though Burma’s army had deployed its troops closer to the Wa, the UWSA hasn’t responded with any military deployment of its own—unlike in 2009, when the UWSA was pressured by Burma’s army to become a Border Guard Force (BGF). At that time, the UWSA reinforced its troops and made bunkers inside Wa-controlled territory.

Although it hasn’t initiated any military response yet the UWSA is closely monitoring the current situation. UWSA spokesman U Aung Myint (aka Li Julie) said: “We are keeping an eye on them [but as of yet] there have been no orders from above.”

A member of a people’s militia in Mongsu Township said: “Burma’s army has deployed troops and is operating along the east and west side of the Salween River around SSPP/SSA and UWSA territories—at least 20 infantry battalions’”

Both the SSPP/SSA and the UWSA recently signed ceasefire agreements with Naypyidaw under President Thein Sein’s government.