The regime has extended the deadline for the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) to withdraw from three camps in southern Shan State, but a representative of the ethnic armed group told SHAN they aren’t going anywhere.

“We won’t retreat; the three camps are very important to us,” he said of the 30 June deadline.

Earlier this month, the Burma Army (BA) asked the SSPP to abandon its camps by 10 June and later extended the deadline to the end of June.

“We’ve prepared to defend these camps. We’re not retreating and the BA hasn’t sent any more troops to the area (recently).”

The SSPP camps are located between Mong Hsu and Tang Yan.

The regime-appointed chair of the State Administration Council, Min Aung Hlaing, has invited the SSPP to Naypyidaw for so-called peace talks, but the SSPP has yet to travel to the Southeast Asian country’s capital.