The Burmese regime has been heavily reinforcing its army units in northern Shan State since the weekend in preparation for a major conflict, according to sources.
The troop movements have come despite a report in the Burmese state newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, on Monday that said fighting in Kokang areas in northern Shan State ceased on Saturday and locals were returning to their homes.
The day after Burmese troops occupied Laogai, the capital of the Kokang region on Aug 24, fighting broke out between Burmese forces and Kokang soldiers, resulting in more than 30,000 refugees fleeing across the border to China.
One source in Shan State who recently arrived in Chiang Mai said he witnessed dozens of trucks carrying fully equipped Burmese troops going from Taunggyi to Kengtung on Saturday.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Aung Wa, a Kachin source on the Sino-Burmese border, said about 100 trucks carrying Burmese soldiers were reportedly sent to Lashio in northern Shan State during the weekend.
Lapai Naw Din, the editor of the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, said the Burmese regime sent seven Light Infantry Divisions including LID 99, 55, 33, 22 and five other battalions to northern Shan State.
He also said the United Wa State Army (USWSA), which has 20,000 soldiers and is the strongest ceasefire group, reportedly threatened to attack the Burmese forces in the Kokang area unless they withdrew.
Naw Din said, “The Wa and Kokang armed groups told the occupying Burmese troops to withdraw, otherwise they would launch a major attack.”
He also said the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Kachin ceasefire group, is on alert after issuing a warning that it would attack any Burmese troops forcibly entering KIA-controlled territories.
Saeng Juen, an editor for the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News, said Burmese army reinforcements were also being sent against the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), also known as the Mong La group.
Sources believe the Mong La group is being targeted because its leader, Sai Linn, also known as Lin Mingxian, is a son-in-law of the Kokang leader Peng Jiasheng, who is now on the junta’s wanted list.
Residents in the Mong La group’s area of control fear an impending attack, and wealthier civilians have been leaving their homes in recent days. Some have gone to China and others to Tachilek on the Thai-Burmese border, Saeng Juen said.
On Aug 28, more than 20 trucks carrying Burmese soldiers were sent from Mandalay to northern Shan State, he said.
About 700 Kokang troops who fled to China handed over their weapons to Chinese officials during the weekend, but about 200 Kokang fighters remained in UWSA-controlled territories with their leader, Peng Jiasheng, to launch guerrilla attacks against Burmese troops, according to sources.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer on the Sino-Burmese border, said the Burmese regime has also been reinforcing its troops in southern Shan State opposite UWSA units based on the Thai-Burmese border.
He said the Burmese regime might continue fighting weaker ethnic ceasefire groups in northern Burma as there has been no significant international pressure as a result of the recent clashes in the Kokang area.
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