BANGKOK (AP) — A major ethnic rebel group in Myanmar announced Wednesday it signed a cease-fire with the military following China-mediated talks, easing months of intense fighting in the country’s northeast near the Chinese border.
The ceasefire with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, marks a significant victory for Myanmar’s military government, which has regained territories ahead of elections scheduled to start Dec. 28. Critics see the polls, which exclude the main opposition parties, as an attempt to legitimize and maintain the military’s rule.
The ceasefire was signed during talks mediated by China on Monday and Tuesday in Kunming, a Chinese provincial capital about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the border with Myanmar, the TNLA said in a statement Wednesday on the Telegram messaging platform.
Beijing has major geopolitical and economic interests in Myanmar and is deeply concerned about instability along its borders. China is also the most important foreign ally of Myanmar’s military, which took power after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The takeover led to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into civil war.
Myanmar’s military government did not immediately comment on the ceasefire.
The ceasefire announcement came after the rebels gave up control of Nawnghkio, Kyaukme and Hsipaw, three strategic towns on a major highway linking central Myanmar to China, back to the army in a fierce military offensive.
The TNLA statement said the cease-fire began Wednesday.
The rebels said they would withdraw troops from Mogok, the ruby-mining center in the upper Mandalay region and the neighboring town of Momeik in northern part of Shan state as part of the agreement, though no timeline was provided.
The two towns had been under the control of the TNLA, which represents the Ta’ang ethnic minority, since July last year.
In return, the military agreed to stop its ground offensives and airstrikes on the group’s remaining territories, the TNLA said. The rebels have no effective defense against airstrikes.
The TNLA is part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which also includes the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army. They have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government and are loosely allied with the pro-democracy resistance groups that emerged after the army takeover.
Since October 2023, the alliance captured and controlled significant swaths of northeastern Myanmar near the Chinese border and in western Myanmar. The TNLA alone seized 12 towns in an offensive.
Their advance slowed following a series of China-brokered ceasefires earlier this year, allowing the army to retake major cities, including Lashio city in April and Nawnghkio in July, as well as Kyaukme and Hsipaw in October.
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