MYANMAR TIMES
Residents, who fled from conflict between the Myanmar army and the Arakan Army (AA), arrive at a temporary refugee camp at a monastery in Sittwe, Rakhine State on June 29. Photo: AFP
Talks between the Tatmadaw (military) representatives and the Arakan Army are proceeding smoothly as both sides keep their desire to reach a ceafire agreement after over two years of clashes.
Major General Zaw Min Tun, chief of Tatmadaw True News Information Term, said the negotiation between representatives of the Tatmadaw and the ethnic Rakhine armed group is progressing so the relative peace in the strife-torn state remains.
“We have to continue the negotiations so as to end the fighting and move forward the peace process in the Rakhine State,” he told the Myanmar Times on December 21. “The Tatmadaw and the AA have the view that we need to keep on negotiating because the civilians in Rakhine support the negotiations for peace.”
Talks between the Tatmadaw and the AA started a day after the military establish a permanent committee to hold peace talks with ethnic armed groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, as well as holdover groups that have yet to sign the pact.
The AA, established in 2009, is among the seven major holdover ethnic armed groups that refused to sign the NCA.
Earlier in March, the government declared the AA a terrorist organization due to unabted attacks on government security outposts and government civilian employees in Rakhine and adjacent Chin State.
A meeting between a Tatmadaw major general and Nyo Tun Aung, the vice chair of the Rakhine ethnic armed group, was held in the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Pangkham township in Wa’s self-administered region in Shan.
During the meeting, there was discussion on a dialogue between Tatmadaw top peace negotiator Lieutenant General Yar Pyae and AA chief Major General Htun Myat Naing.
The Tatmadaw and AA negotiators have agreed on a temporary truce during an hour long online meeting on November 25, according to a source privy to the ongoing negotiations .
U Zaw Zaw Htun, the secretary of non-government group Rakhine Ethnic Congress said over 70,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to their villages starting on November 9 as clashes between the two sides declined since the truce was declared.
But majority of the over 240,000 displaced villagers remain in temporary IDP camps amid worries about a new outbreak of hostilities between the two sides.
The AA, established in 2009, is among the seven major holdover ethnic armed groups that refused to sign the NCA.
Earlier in March, the government declared the AA a terrorist organization due to unabted attacks on government security outposts and government civilian employees in Rakhine and adjacent Chin State.
A meeting between a Tatmadaw major general and Nyo Tun Aung, the vice chair of the Rakhine ethnic armed group, was held in the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Pangkham township in Wa’s self-administered region in Shan.
During the meeting, there was discussion on a dialogue between Tatmadaw top peace negotiator Lieutenant General Yar Pyae and AA chief Major General Htun Myat Naing.
The Tatmadaw and AA negotiators have agreed on a temporary truce during an hour long online meeting on November 25, according to a source privy to the ongoing negotiations .
U Zaw Zaw Htun, the secretary of non-government group Rakhine Ethnic Congress said over 70,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to their villages starting on November 9 as clashes between the two sides declined since the truce was declared.
But majority of the over 240,000 displaced villagers remain in temporary IDP camps amid worries about a new outbreak of hostilities between the two sides.
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