Sawt Falasteen - Second major Myanmar rebel group calls for talks with junta

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), with about 8,000 available fighters, has fought the Myanmar military for over a decade for autonomy for the Kokang ethnic minority in northern Shan state.

Last year, it and two other allied rebel groups launched an offensive against the military and seized swathes of Shan state, including ruby mines and a lucrative trade highway to China.

Last week, MNDAA ally the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said it was ready for talks with the military.

"From today onwards we will cease fire immediately, and will not actively attack the Myanmar army," the MNDAA said in a statement released late Tuesday.

"Under the mediation of China, we are willing to engage in peace talks with the Myanmar army on issues such as Lashio," it said, referring to the city its fighters captured in August in a huge blow to the junta.

The MNDAA was "willing to send a high-level delegation to engage in dialogue and consult with the Myanmar military and resolve conflicts and differences through political means," it said.

A junta spokesman did not respond when contacted for comment on the MNDAA statement.

AFP has contacted China's embassy in Myanmar for comment.

The junta has not publicly responded to the TNLA offer, and local media outlets have reported continued air strikes on TNLA-held territory.

The Arakan Army (AA), the third group in the rebel alliance, is still fighting the military in coastal Rakhine state in Myanmar's west, home to China and India-backed port projects.

AFP has contacted an AA spokesman for comment.

China is a major ally and arms supplier of the junta but also maintains ties with ethnic rebel groups that hold territory near its border.

It has repeatedly called for fighting to stop in Shan state, a key link in its trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative.

Earlier this month, Beijing said the head of the MNDAA had come to China for "medical care" after news reports in Myanmar said he had been arrested on China's orders.

Myanmar is home to about a dozen ethnic rebel groups that have battled the military for decades for autonomy and control of lucrative resources including jade, timber and opium.

Some, including the TNLA, have given shelter and training to newer "People's Defence Forces" that sprang up to battle the military after it seized power in a 2021 coup.

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST