Myanmar gov't to hold peace talks with rebel collation

YANGON, Myanmar

Myanmar government and a rebel collation are scheduled to meet on Saturday, according to a government representative, amid intensifying fighting in the country’s western and northeastern areas.

Northern Alliance -- a collation of four ethnic rebel groups namely Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MND) -- agreed to hold talks with the government’s Union Peace Commission in Kengtung, a border town near Myanmar’s northeastern border with China, according to the government representative on Thursday.

“The meeting will be held in Kengtung on Saturday,” Hla Maung Shwe, a commission member told Anadolu Agency by phone.

He added that the talks would aim to bring an end the ongoing fighting in Shan state and resume the flow of goods.

“We are hoping it would at least ease the tension between them,” he added.

Fighting has been intensified in northeastern Shan state since Aug. 15 when the rebel collation attacked several targets along a major trade route between Myanmar and China.

Rebel blew up several bridges on the route, causing a complete halt to Myanmar-China cross-border trade worth $5.5 million a day.

Anadolu Agency was unable to reach Northern Alliance for comment.

Gen. Sumlut Gun Maw, a top leader of KIA, said a representative team has left its headquarter Laiza, a border town in Myanmar’s northern Kachin state, for a meeting with government in Kungtung.

“The team is heading for a meeting,” he said on his Facebook post on early Thursday.