In Northern Myanmar The War In Kachin Province Is Intensifying

The Guardian: Thousands flee in Myanmar amid fighting between army and Kachin rebels

UN says more than 4,000 people have fled in three weeks in the northern Kachin state and many civilians remain trapped.

Thousands of people have fled renewed fighting between Myanmar’s army and ethnic insurgents in the country’s remote north.

More than 4,000 people have been displaced in the country’s northern-most state of Kachin near the border with China in the last three weeks, the head of UN’s office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA), Mark Cutts, said on Friday.

“We have received reports from local organisations saying that there are still many civilians who remain trapped in conflict-affected areas,” Cutts said.

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More News On The War In Kachin State Intensifying

Rebel, Miltary Clashes in Myanmar Force Thousands to Flee -- VOA
Myanmar violence: Thousands flee fresh fighting in Kachin state -- BBC
Myanmar rebels say clashes with government could displace more people -- Reuters
Myanmar violence: Thousands flee renewed fighting in Kachin state -- Al Jazeera
More Kachin villagers flee as clashes intensify -- Relief Web
Fighting in Kachin Highlights Myanmar Civil War Worries -- VOA
In northern Myanmar, forgotten Kachin conflict intensifies -- AP
Myanmar’s military intensify operations against another minority -- Azeem Ibrahim, Al-Arabiya

Peace Talks Begin Between Myanmar and Rebels

The Burmese Government Reaches Deal With Kachin Rebels -- BBC

Burma's government and ethnic Kachin rebels have reached a deal that could pave the way for an end to their conflict.

China mediated talks in the southern Chinese town of Ruili amid ongoing fighting between the army and rebels.

The two sides agreed to defuse military tensions, open lines of communication, and hold another meeting before the end of February.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has fought the Burmese state for 50 years.

The two sides also agreed to hold a political dialogue and to establish a "monitoring system" that would allow them to implement a ceasefire, the Associated Press news agency reports.

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More News On The Start Of Peace Talks Between Between Myanmar And Kachin Rebels

Peace Talks Start Between Myanmar and Rebels -- New York Times
Kachin rebels agree with Myanmar gov’t on preliminary moves to ease military tensions -- Washington Post/AP
Myanmar government, Kachin rebels hold talks -- L.A Times
Myanmar holds peace talks with Kachin leaders in China -- Reuters
Myanmar holds 'positive' peace talks with rebels -- Global Post/AFP
Burma government and Kachin rebels hold peace talks -- The Guardian
Christian Kachin Guerrillas Are Crippled in Myanmar -- Scoops.co.nz

Myanmar’s Army Makes Gains Against Kachin Rebels

Myanmar’s Army Makes Gains In Battle Against Rebels, Observers Say -- New York Times

BANGKOK — Government troops in Myanmar captured a strategic hilltop position outside the headquarters of ethnic Kachin rebels on Saturday, a photographer and another observer in the area reported. The takeover of the hilltop would be a significant advance in a long and bloody campaign near the border with China.

The intense fighting near the town of Laiza, the rebel base, comes amid increased foreign criticism of the military campaign and heightened tensions between the Burmese ethnic majority and minority groups, who make up one-third of the country’s population.

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More News On The Conflict between Myanmar And The Kachin Rebels

Myanmar’s Kachin rebels report loss of key outpost protecting their headquarters -- Washington Post
Kachin rebels lose major strategic post to Myanmar military -- Times of India/AFP
Kachin rebels in Burma lose key hilltop -- BBC
Myanmar military seizes key rebel outpost in northern Kachin state -- Global Post
Myanmar captures key rebel-held outpost -- Al Jazeera
Myanmar Rejects US Criticism Over Ethnic Conflict -- ABC News/AP
Kachin rebels cling to last stronghold amid Burmese army's deadly barrage -- The Guardian
Last stand of the Kachins -- Kate Hodal, Hindustan Times

My Comment: After 5 decades of war .... this conflict may be finally coming to an end.

Kachin Rebels: Myanmar Ignoring Ceasefire

Kachin Rebels Say Myanmar Ignoring Ceasefire -- Al Jazeera

KIA spokesman says army resumed attack on rebel positions despite president's ceasefire order and offer of peace talks.

Myanmar troops have attacked rebel positions in northeast Kachin despite a ceasefire order from the president and an invitation to the rebels to take part in peace talks, a rebel spokesman and a local source have said.

President Thein Sein issued the ceasefire order to troops in the La Ja Yang area of Kachin near the border with China, where fighting has been fiercest.

It due to take effect on Saturday morning, but Colonel James Lum Dau, a Thai-based spokesman for the Kachin
Independence Army (KIA), told the Reuters news agency the army had continued to attack over the weekend, both in La Ja Yang and elsewhere in the state.

An offencive in La Ja Yang on Sunday morning had involved artillery and infantry, he said.

A 17-year ceasefire with the KIA broke down in June 2011 and fighting has been particularly intense in recent weeks.

Twenty months of fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people and, for some analysts, raised doubts about the sincerity of all the political and economic reforms pursued by Thein Sein in Myanmar.

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More News On The Conflict Between Burma And Kachin Insurgents

Despite Cease-Fire, Fighting Continues in Burma's Kachin State -- Voice of America
Burma troops attack Kachin rebels -- BBC
Myanmar rebels say army ignoring president's ceasefire -- Reuters
Burma attack breaks Kachin truce near China border -- BBC
Myanmar Calls for Kachin Peace Talks as Cease-Fire Tested -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Rebels Say Clashes Persist in Myanmar -- Wall Street Journal
Ban Ki-moon hails Kachin “ceasefire” as fighting continues -- Burma News International
Take Kachin truce seriously, Myanmar told -- UPI
Kachin rebels defiant on Burma's northern front line -- BBC

Myanmar Announces Unilateral Ceasefire Against Kachin Rebels

Burma To End Military Offensive Against Kachin Rebels -- BBC

The Burmese government has announced an end to a military offensive against rebels in the northern state of Kachin.

It said the attacks would stop at 06:00 Saturday (23:30 GMT Friday), in a statement hours after parliament called for an end to the fighting.

The Burmese army began a new offensive last month, after a 17-year truce with the rebels ended in mid-2011.

The Kachin Independence Army is the only major rebel group not to agree a ceasefire with the government.

There has been no official response from the KIA, which is seeking greater autonomy within Burma.

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More News On Burma Announcing An End To Their Military Offensive Against The Kachin Rebels

Myanmar Announces Unilateral Cease-fire -- New York Times
Burma to End Offensive Against Kachin Rebels -- Voice of America
Myanmar gov't announces unilateral ceasefire with KIA -- Xinhuanet
Myanmar army says its base secured, will cease attacks Saturday on Kachin ethnic rebels -- Washington Post/AP
Myanmar government announces ceasefire with Kachin rebels -- Reuters
Myanmar announces end to strikes on Kachin rebels -- AFP
Myanmar announces end to Kachin offensive -- The Australian

My Comment: I wonder if pressure from this country had anything to do with this quick ceasefire announcement.

The Burma - Kachin Conflict Is Escalating

Fighting In Myanmar's Kachin State -- The Economist

Lengthening shadow

ONE of the most laudable achievements of Myanmar’s ongoing process of democratic reform has been the ceasefire agreements the new government has signed with all of the major ethnic insurgent groups—all but one, that is: the Kachin, under the banner of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), fight on. Unfortunately, that single conflict has become big and ugly enough to cast a lengthening shadow over the rest of Myanmar’s progress.

In the past few weeks fighting has escalated further. There is now plenty of evidence that, contrary to earlier promises made by the government, Myanmar’s army is throwing almost its whole weight against the KIA. At the beginning of the year footage shot by Free Burma Rangers, a quasi-military, humanitarian-support group, clearly showed helicopter gunships attacking rebel positions. Witnesses saw jet fighters being used as well, providing close air support to thousands of ground troops. According to some analysts, even in the darkest days of the old military regime, air power was never used in this way against the ethnic militias. So this would mark a significant ramping-up of the army’s aggressive efforts. They are gearing up a civil war that restarted only in 2011, after a truce that had lasted 17 years.

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More News On The Burma - Kachin Conflict

Burma military expands conflict in Kachin State with air power -- Karen News
Airstrikes, Ground Fighting Continue Near Laiza -- Irrawaddy
Burmese jets attack Kachin positions near Laiza, says KIA -- Burma News International
More Kachin civilians killed by Burma army -- Burma News International
Kachin Villagers Recall Terror of Laiza Shelling -- Irrawaddy
Myanmar denies shelling Kachin civilians -- Bangkok post
Burma Attacks in Kachin Prompt Global Criticism (Video) -- Voice of America
Europe calls for an immediate ceasefire in Myanmar -- New Europe
Suu Kyi Says Kachin War Should ‘Stop Immediately’ -- Irrawaddy
Kachin Minority Want China's Action in Conflict with Burma -- NTD
Burma Conflict Tests China’s Policy of Non-Interference -- William Ide, Voice of America

Is Burma's Reformist Rulers Serious About Reaching A Peace Deal With The Kachin Independence Army?

Analysis: Air Assaults Raise Doubts About Myanmar's Reformist Rulers -- New York Times/Reuters

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Unprecedented aerial attacks on ethnic Kachin rebels by Myanmar's military have raised doubts about whether the retired generals in a government hailed for its reforms have really changed their harsh old ways.

Assurances by the quasi-civilian government that it wants a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and that the military is exercising "maximum restraint" are starting to ring hollow as jets and helicopter gunships take to the air.

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More News On Myanmar's War Against Kachin Rebels

Kachin rebels say government air and ground attacks continue in northern Myanmar -- Washington Post/AP
Fighting rages in Myanmar's Kachin State -- Myanmar Times
Myanmar’s Kachin rebels accuse government of artillery attack on headquarter city -- Washington Post/AP
Myanmar Could Sign Ceasefire With Ethnic Insurgent Groups -- NPR
Conflict a blot on Myanmar government -- Gulf News

Burma Launches Air Strikes Against Kachin Rebels

Burma Admits Air Strikes Targeted Kachin Rebels -- Voice of America

The Burmese government has confirmed that it carried out air strikes this week against ethnic rebels in northern Kachin state, raising fresh concerns about the country's reform and fragile peace processes.

In an interview with VOA's Burmese Service on Wednesday, a government spokesperson acknowledged that "training jets" were used against Kachin rebels in response to attacks by the Kachin Independence Organization.

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More News On Burma Launching Air Strikes Against Kachin Rebels

Army admits aerial assault on Kachin rebels -- Democratic Voice of Burma
Video shows Burma military 'targeting Kachin rebels' -- BBC
Burmese army use airstrikes as conflict escalates -- ABC News (Australia)
Myanmar: Gov't aircraft in rebel-held area -- UPI
Myanmar air strikes reported on Kachin rebels -- Al Jazeera
Kachin War Strays to Chinese Soil -- The Irrawaddy
Myanmar: war skirting Chinese air space? -- Global Post
Burma ‘using Chinese airspace’ as fighting nears Kachin HQ -- Asian Correspondent
Myanmar government and rebels trade charges over upsurge in fighting in north -- Washington Post/AP

Kachin Rebels Still At War Against Burma

Kachin Rebels Live In Limbo As War With Burma Drags On -- Voice of America

Burma’s army and ethnic Kachin rebels have been fighting since June, when they broke a 17-year-old cease-fire. The move sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing into makeshift refugee camps. Rights groups accuse authorities of preventing aid from reaching camps in rebel-held territory.

Four hundred Kachin refugees get regular donations of food and other aid at a Catholic-run camp. The youngest were born while in the camp, enlarging families that fled fighting between the Burmese military and the Kachin Independence Army.

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More News On The Plight Of The Kachin Rebels

Myanmar’s forgotten ethnic conflict -- Global Post/Salon
4 Burma soldiers fall in battle on election day in N.Shan state -- Kachin News
Human Rights Watch: Kachin people still face 'serious abuses' -- BBC
To See if the New Burma Can Be Trusted, Ask the Kachin as They Face Ethnic War -- Jakarta Globe
Kachin plight reveals Burma's patchy progress -- Sue Lloyd Roberts, BBC
Burma: Government Makes Peace With Karen Rebels, But Why Not Kachin? – OpEd -- Eurasia Review