Urging Local Populations to Maintain Restraint for Avoiding Provocations by Myanmar Tatmadaw | Statement Number (6/2017)

1. We, the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF/TNLA), earnestly urge the local populations to be expressly cautious in their living and daily life’s activities in order to escape the misfortunes of war and for the security of their lives, as the Myanmar Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) is using various means of attacks to step up the fire of civil war, after the second meetings of the Union Peace Conference (21st Century Pinlong) held in the latter part of May, by the Myanmar government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD).
2. The Myanmar Tatmadaw troops are committing all kinds of human rights violations against the local Ta’ang populations by coming to the Ta’ang villages and carrying out interrogations of the villagers by entering the houses one after another, arresting and jailing even women and children, after accusing them of having association with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), subjecting the people on travel to rough scrutiny checks and imposing travel limitation on them, shooting heavy weapons into the villages etc.
3. After distributing fliers asserting that the TNLA and the KIA are planning to carry out destructive activities and bombing, the Myanmar Tatmadaw has brought in more troops into the towns of Lashio, Theinni, Kutkai etc. and threatened the life security of the local populations. We on our part have never carried out bombing attacks with the aim of harming the people. We do not also have the policy.
4. After dressing up the local militia and some of its own troops in uniforms similar to those of the TNLA, the Myanmar Tatmadaw troops have been increasingly seizing and frightening the people, and demanding money from them. Similarly, they send also more and more to the local entrepreneurs of banks, hotels etc. fabricated letters in the name of the TNLA, demanding money from them.
5. In addition to instructing and enforcing always the order on our battalions and brigades, at all levels, not to collect money unjustly from the local populations, we, the PSLF/TNLA on our part, have been making the most effort to avoid head-on battles between the two sides, in order to be able to have political dialogue with the Myanmar government.

Accordingly, the Ta’ang, Kachin, Shan, Lisu, Burman etc. peoples in the Ta’ang Region are earnestly urged to maintain special caution to avoid the various kinds of machination for military assaults by the war-mongering and belligerent Myanmar Tatmadaw.

Download the statement (PDF) here in English or Burmese.