Burmese Army units based around areas controlled by the Shan State Army (SSA) “North” have been recently ordered to monitor the latter’s movement closely, informed sources in the north said.

“We were told to follow, arrest and interrogate anyone coming from the 1st Brigade area if they come out for shopping, treatment or for any reason,” a source quoted a Burmese Army officer as saying.

The instruction came from the Headquarters of the Northeastern Region Command in Northern Shan State North's Lashio. It has been passed on to units based in Shan State South’s Kehsi and Monghsu townships and soldiers based in Shan State North's Mongyai, Tangyan and Lashio townships, sources said.

Mongyai is located north of the First Brigade main bases, Tangyan in the northeast, Monghsu in the southeast and Kehsi in the South.

But units based in villages such as Wanhsaw and Kun Kieng, where the small outpost of the SSA’s 24th Battalion and a 50-strong Burmese Army’s Light Infantry Division (LID) 33 patrol, clashed on 11 November, were reportedly ordered to withdraw a few days later.

Similarly, the SSA fighters were also ordered by Commander Ngao Fa, deputy to Maj-Gen Pang Fa, not to live in villages but to move into the jungle since the clash took place, according to local sources.

The instruction was believed to have been aimed only at the SSA’s First Brigade because other groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) aka Mongla group said they had no such information in their controlled areas.

Nevertheless, Infantry Battalions (IB) #279 and 281 based in Shan State East’s Mongyang Township, bordering the UWSA and Mongla areas, have imposed a curfew from 19:00 until 6:00 since 25 April 2010, local sources said.