Myanmar alliance agrees to extend ceasefire with junta in Shan state

YANGON: An alliance of armed groups in Myanmar has agreed to extend a ceasefire with the junta in northern Shan state after “pressure” from China, a leader of one of the groups said on Saturday.

The ceasefire, which was extended to July 31, comes after clashes saw its fighters seize territory from the military along a strategic highway to China.

The area has been rocked by fighting since late last month when the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance renewed an offensive against junta troops along the road to China’s Yunnan province.

The alliance of ethnic minority armed groups -- made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) -- initially agreed to a four-day ceasefire from July 14-18.

A third member of the alliance, the Arakan Army, did not agree to the ceasefire.

“China put a lot of pressure on us to have a ceasefire immediately,” the leader from the TNLA, who asked not to be named, told AFP. “Therefore, we have to do it as we can’t avoid it.” But the leader warned that if junta troops launched offensives on the alliance’s troops or if they continued to bomb civilians during the ceasefire, they would “attack back”. Fighting broke out in Myanmar after the military’s ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in a coup in 2021.