By Ye Mon | Tuesday, 30 June 2015
The Tatmadaw has accused the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) of firing several artillery rounds in the area of the 105 Mile trading zone in Muse township in northern Shan State, which is also the country’s most important border crossing for trade with China.
Myawady Daily, a military newspaper, reported yesterday that at least three shells were fired on June 28, wounding two residents. Shells were said to have landed first near the Shwe Leik Pyar restaurant, then a branch of Myanmar Citizens Bank and the third near the agricultural commodities exchange centre.
The shells landed 13 kilometres (8 miles) from the main border crossing point with China and there was no disruption to trade, a senior commercial official told The Myanmar Times.
The reported incidents were the latest signs of increased tensions between armed ethnic groups and government forces in Kachin and Shan states since nationwide ceasefire talks stalled in early June, with both sides accusing each other of initiating fighting.
However, Major Teng Seng of the KIA denied that his group was responsible for the shelling in Muse township, saying the Shan State Army or the Ta’ang National Liberation Army could have been responsible.
“I think the Tatmadaw blamed it on us because we accused them of using artillery near a boarding school in Laiza [the KIA headquarters] last week. But we have evidence,” the KIA major said. He said the shell landed about 200 metres (660 feet) from the dormitory and the headmaster’s house of Alem Bum boarding school.
Major Teng Seng said that fighting between the KIA and the Tatmadaw had resumed in the jade mining area of Hpakant in Kachin State following initial clashes two weeks ago. Local aid groups said about 200 people had been displaced by the first outbreak.
“I think the Tatmadaw has no intention of signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement. Otherwise they would not attack the ethnic armed groups,” said Maj Teng Seng.
A senior police officer in Muse said police and Tatmadaw had checked the areas near Muse hit by artillery fire and found remnants of shells. Police said they were still investigating and could not confirm the Tatmadaw’s allegations that the KIA was responsible.
Myawady Daily said the KIA was attempting to disrupt stability and sow fear among residents.
A colonel acting as spokesperson for the Tatmadaw’s Public Relations and Psychological Warfare section said yesterday the military had evidence of KIA responsibility for the alleged Muse shelling. He declined to give further comment.
Nine local humanitarian agencies released a statement on June 26 calling on all sides in Kachin State to take measures to protect civilians in armed conflicts.
The Kachin conflict is one of the longest-running ethnic insurgencies in Myanmar. A ceasefire agreed in 1994 lasted until 2011. Peace talks, mediated initially by China, resulted in an agreement in May 2013 to scale back hostilities, but not a ceasefire. About 100,000 people remain in camps for internally displaced persons.
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