Shan State Army-North troops on the front line in Shan State. (Photo: Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy)
The Burma Army and the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N) clashed in northern Shan State on Sunday evening, just days before the start of the Union Peace Conference.
Fighting broke out as the Burma Army’s Light Infantry Battalions No. 33 and 147 marched toward the SSA-N’s Loilem outpost in Mongyang Township’s Tangyan village tract, but there were no casualties, said Major Sai Hsu, an SSPP/SSA-N spokesperson.
“Artillery troops assisted [the Burma Army] with supporting fire. We suffered minor injuries and so did the military. They brought Lahu special combat forces along with them and three Lahu [soldiers] were injured. We arrested one of them,” Major Sai Hsu told The Irrawaddy.
As the country’s Union Peace Conference is scheduled to convene on Wednesday, the clash coincided with preparations for SSPP/SSA-N leaders to attend the conference.
Maj-Gen Sai Htoo of the SSPP/SSA-N was attending a joint preparatory meeting for the conference as the fighting occurred, said the spokesperson.