Myanmar’s eight-month-old government faced a fresh crisis on Monday, after four ethnic armed groups attacked security forces in the north of the country, dealing a major blow to leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s goal of reaching peace with ethnic minorities. Eight people were killed and 29 wounded when a coalition of northern rebels attacked military and police outposts and a business centre near a key trading hub on the Myanmar (formerly Burma) border with China on Sunday, the government said. Fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin state, which reignited in 2011 after the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire, has displaced around 100,000 people and spilled over into parts of neighbouring Shan state. The fighting last year pitted the army against the predominantly ethnic Chinese Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and its allies, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army. China has offered "proper settlement" to those seeking shelter and hospital beds for those who need them, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a daily briefing.
At least 8 people are killed and more than a dozen others are injured following an attack on Tatmadaw checkpoints, police outposts and the 105th Mile Trade Center by several insurgent groups in Muse, Shan State. The State Counselor's office issues a statement claiming that the Kachin Independence Army, Ta'ang National Liberation Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army were involved in the attack.