20 February 2016•Update: 20 February 2016
By Kyaw Ye Lynn
YANGON, Myanmar
The United States’ embassy in Myanmar’s largest city expressed deep concern Saturday over recent heavy fighting involving the military and two ethnic armed groups in eastern Shan state.
A series of heavy clashes have broken out between Shan rebels of the Restoration Council for Shan State (RCSS) and Palaung rebels of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern parts of the state since last week.
At least 4,300 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the fighting, according to the United Nations' country Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“We are particularly concerned by alleged human rights violations targeting ethnic Shan and Palaung communities,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement Saturday.
The clashes between RCSS and TNLA started earlier this month in Kyaukme Township, where ethnic Palaung people make up the majority of the population.
A senior official in Shan’s regional government described the conflict as a “complex picture”.
“It’s still unclear what TNLA is doing and who is behind them,” the official who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media told Anadolu Agency this week.
“Although Palaung people are the majority in the area, it was under RCSS’s control since long time ago, and TNLA never showed interest before,” he added in Taung Gyi, the state capital.
Referring to the well-armed United Wa State Army -- which controls an area near the Chinese border covering a population of roughly 600,000 -- he said, “it seems TNLA is planning to follow other major rebels like UWSA to get their self-administration region” in Shan.
“As RCSS is a major rebel groups in Shan state, they would not want losing some of its area to TNLA,” he underlined.
TNLA has accused the military of assisting RCSS, which signed a government-sponsored Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in October last year.
According to local media reports this week, the military is using fighter jets in combating TNLA.
“Offensive military actions undermine the trust necessary to building lasting peace,” the U.S embassy said.
“We urge all sides to exercise restraint and recommit to dialogue so that the peace process may remain on track, and those displaced are able to return to their homes and resume their lives.”
