Link to Article: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-848425 (*this article was sourced through Reuters and re-reported).
Early this morning the Jerusalem Post broke news on reports from Reuters that a rebel alliance group in Myanmar has declared a unilateral ceasefire amid disaster response to the recent earthquake and its damage. Known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance , consisting of the three largest rebel groups in Myanmar, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Arakan Army, the Three Brotherhood and its council announced early this morning that it would cease all offensive operations to allow rescue efforts, humanitarian aid and rebuilding to occur. It also stated that it will only operate in combat on a self-defense basis, only engaging back if attacked.
In the joint statement it clearly specified its urge for the security and safety of the local population, urging for quick, organized humanitarian response efforts to be provided to those affected by the earthquakes damage. This comes in stark as the military continues to be evidently authoritarian, cracking down on protests, yet remains driven out of nearly all northern regions of the country that border China–a result of the 3 Brotherhood Alliance’s direct offensive efforts to force out military control.
This could pose an interesting development for Myanmar and its military-led government as it will only face flashbacks from its majorly concerning rebel groups in the north if they so choose to attack them over providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief to those affected by the earthquakes. Where China is unlikely to provide any response to the situation in Myanmar it’s likely that there will be some international backlash given how the Burmese government chooses to act. If not all of its neighbors have remained quiet on the issue of the rebels, and the government coup. As the situation is still unfolding and major news outlets have yet to uncover further details on the arrangement and the events occurring within Myanmar–news is likely to come out in further days and or weeks given the recency of this report, having been released this morning.