At least seven Burma Army soldiers were killed and more than three injured during two days of heavy fighting with Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops at Lungja Bum Kadawng (Lungja hillside) in N’Mawk (Momauk) Township in Manmaw (Bhamo) Township, in Burma’s Northern Kachin State, on August 28 and 29, local sources said.

It was biggest loss of Burmese troops in fighting with the KIA in Kachin State earlier this week, KIA officials at the Laiza headquarters in eastern Kachin State said.

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Leaders of an umbrella organization of ethnic parties, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), formed a peace talk group last week in preparation for future negotiations with the Burmese government.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, UNFC secretary Nai Hang Tha said, “There are eight representatives within the group which includes Mon, Shan, Karenni, Chin, Arakanese, Karen, Kachin and Pa-O people”.

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