For the first time since hostilities between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) resumed in June last year, KIA troops are entering Lashio township, where the Burma Army’s Northeastern Region Command is based, according to sources in Shan State North.

A Shan State Army (SSA) North patrol and a Burma Army column ran into each other in the hills near Hsenwi, 32 miles north of Lashio resulting in a 3-hour fight on Monday morning, 26 March, according to several sources.

A one-hour shootout took place in Shan State South, when Burma Army troops attacked a small outpost of the Shan State Army (SSA) North on the Nampang, a tributary of the Salween, on Wednesday, 21 March, according to an SSA source.

A Burma Army column scouring areas along the Mekong ran into a Shan State Army (SSA) South patrol on Sunday, 18 March, resulting in a 40 minute shootout, according to SSA sources.

The fight at Loi Lan Fa Khio, located southeast of Mongyawng and northwest of Kenglarb, began around 07:00. “Villagers say 1 lieutenant, 1 sergeant and 1 private were among the fatal casualties on the Burma Army side,” said Lt-Col Gawn Zeun, Commander of the SSA 1st Military Region that covers most of Shan State East. “Fortunately, we came out of it unscathed.”

Since the ceasefire agreement was signed on 2 December 2012, between the Shan State Army and Naypyitaw, the Burma Army appears to have been more active especially in Eastern Shan State, where its Triangle Region Command with its headquarters in Kengtung, is stationed.

The Shan State Army (SSA) South that had signed the ceasefire agreement on 2December and the Burma Army are in a state of deadlock in Monghai, northwest of Tachilek, opposite Maesai, since last week, according to Lt-Col Gawn Zeun, Commander of the SSA’s Shan State East military region.