HOM HURNG — Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) soldiers fought with the Burma Army (aka Tatmadaw) multiple times this month with clashes breaking out in Mongkai township, located in southern Shan State.
A military column of forty soldiers under Tatmadaw’s LIB-757 clashed with the RCSS/SSA in the jungle near Ho Hkai village-tract in Mongkai township on the evening of November 9.
Sai Lon, an MP for Mongkai township, told SHAN that he’s monitoring the situation and prepared to assist villagers if necessary.
“As far as I know, fighting started after the Burma Army’s military column climbed the Loi Tunn hill north of Ham Ngai village, in Ho Hkai village-tract, in Mongkai township. Nobody was injured because this location is still far from the village.”
SHAN attempted to reach RCSS/SSA’s spokesperson by phone multiple times but wasn’t able to reach him for comment.
RCSS/SSA officials in Kehsi township said recent fighting with the Tatmadaw has amounted to squirmishes. “We’re defending because the Burma Army’s column entererd our area,” an official told SHAN.
An elder that lives in Mongkai reported hearing gunfire on Loi Tunn hill.
After signing a ceasefire with the central government in 2012, the RCSS/SSA has clashed with the Tatmadaw 172 times. After signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015, it fought with Burma Army 51 times and 4 times after the Army announced an unilateral ceasefire at the end of last year.
