By Jaiden Coonan
YANGON
As revelers at Myanmar’s New Year celebrations took to the streets this month to dance and spray water on one another, April offered little respite for areas of northern Shan state, Kachin and western Rakhine.
Despite plans for ceasefire talks with the areas' ethnic armed forces, the month saw an increase in combat, with battles between government forces - the Tatmadaw - and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).
They fighting started April 8 and continued throughout the period.
Despite state media reporting huge successes regaining strategic land and disabling rebel communication lines for the Tatmadaw, the MNDAA reported that 21 Tatmadaw had been killed and between 65-70 injured.
It added that only two of its own soldiers had died and it had no lost land under its control.
State media reported Wednesday, however, that Tatmadaw were resettling refugees to their homes in the Laogai area.
The Global New Light of Myanmar said that 234 people from 74 households were being sent home as peace had been restored to the region since the outbreak of fighting.
“At around 8:30 in the morning, government officials arrived at the monastery and explained to the IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons] that there is no more fighting in the region, and escorted them back on five trucks,” Ashin Awba, the head monk of the Mansu Buddhist Monastery, told the Democratic Voice of Burma.
Major ethnic armed forces the Kachin Independence Alliance (KIA) exchanged fire with the Tatamadaw over the weekend near Hpakant.
Gen. Gun Maw, KIA deputy chief of staff, told the Irrawaddy, "the clash was minor and Monday brought no reports of further clashes.”
Meanwhile, veteran Voice of America journalist Steve Herman reported via his Twitter account late Tuesday that Tatmadaw soldiers had seized a KIA outpost.
“Myanmar army warns villagers near Kaungra Tannaing [township] to evacuate and locals are now fleeing.”
Government media reported Wednesday that the Tatmadaw had engaged in conflict with the Arakan Army (AA) soldiers in the Paletwa region, near the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh.
A tip off from locals alerted Tatmadaw forces to the AA location and battles occurred over Friday and Saturday, resulting in the arrest of five AA members, it stated.
The ongoing fighting has taken place as Naypyitaw’s Union Peace-making Work Committee (NCCT) plans a second round of talks with the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team from May 1-3.
The NCCT represents 16 different ethnic armed groups.
A draft agreement was struck March 31, but it was decided further talks would be held in Myanmar's northern autonomous Wa State shortly after.
The Myanmar Times reported Wednesday that the Wa State Army had defied government orders and invited another twelve armed groups to the process, including the MNDAA, AA and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.
The trio is all involved in the Kokang conflict in the northern part of Shan State. Kokang shares a border with China's Yunnan Province to the east.
“We have to inform government officials about the objectives and agenda of the meeting. They wanted us to not invite them [the Kokang] but we invited them because we think they should discuss peace with us,” said United Wa State Army (UWSA) Secretary U Aung Myint.
He stated that the decision had come from the UWSA central committee.
U Tun Myat Lin, MNDAA spokesperson, told the Myanmar Times that it will definitely be attending the talks and hopes that other ethnic groups will help push the government for a ceasefire in Kokang.
