By ANDREW D. KASPAR

Joining a rising chorus of voices objecting to the encroachment of Burma Army troops into territory in Karen State, hundreds of villagers in the state’s Hpapun Township staged a protest on Monday, calling on the military to withdraw its forces.

Earlier this month, the Burma Army engaged in clashes with soldiers from the Karen National Liberation Army — the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) — in Hpapun. The fighting has resulted in some of the most significant displacement of civilians in Karen State in years.

By NANG MYA NADI

Fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) flared once again this week in Kyaukme Township, Shan State, with a shelling from the clashes landing in Tawt Pe village and killing two civilians.

By MAGGI QUADRINI

As ongoing violence in Burma continues to forcibly displace thousands of people, women are too often being represented as victims within the narrative of conflict.

The Karen National Union (KNU) and New Mon State Party (NMSP) may be close to reconciliation after both sides sat for talks in the Mon border town of Three Pagodas Pass on Tuesday.

The talks were called following two armed clashes between the ethnic armies recently: first in Ye Township, Mon State, on 24 February; then in Ye Phyu Township, Tanintharyi Region, on 3 March.

The NMSP delegation was led by Nai Nyan Tun, the chairman of its chapter in Dawei, while the KNU team was headed by Dooplaya district chairperson Padoh Saw Shwe Maung.

A member of the government’s Peace Commission has said the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), the latter also known as the “Mongla group,” accept the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, an accord that the two influential ethnic armed groups had previously spurned.