Myanmar Gov't Agrees Ceasefire With Armed Shan Group

The Myanmar government and a major Shan armed group have agreed to end more than six weeks of fighting in the country's northeast after two days of talks, according to local media.



The Myanmar Times reported a statement as saying Thursday that the agreement will see the Myanmar army (the Tatmadaw) and the Shan State Progress Party (SSSP)/Shan State Army-North (SSA) remove forces from locations close to a route connecting two central garrison towns while also allowing an estimated 10,000 people to return to their homes.



"While SSPP/SSA will move its troops to the north of the land transportation route connecting Mine Naung and Mine Shu, the government will withdraw its troops from the southern part of the route where fighting is happening," the statement said.



Heavy fighting between the two and the Tatmadaw flared in early October, with the army deploying air strikes and artillery on rebel positions.



The SSPP/SSA was among several large ethnic armed groups that refused to join the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signed between the government and eight other groups Oct. 15.



The government did not allow the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and others to join. 



Other groups, including the powerful Kachin Independence Army and Wa armies, refused to sign.



The NCA has been criticised as a face-saving measure to cover what amounts to President Thein Sein's failure to secure a deal, only including eight of the 15 groups invited to sign.



Of those eight, many were either considered pro-government factions or are not involved in fighting.



The National League for Democracy, which won a landslide victory in Myanmar's Nov. 8th election, is expected to take power around late March.



The party, led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has said the peace process will be one of its top priorities after it forms a government.



Since the election, martial law has been lifted in Kokang, an area of Shan state near the Chinese border, nine months after it was placed after intense fighting between government troops and ethnic rebels displaced tens of thousands of people. - Ankara