Myanmar army to stop operations in north for more than 4 months in rare conciliatory move

The Myanmar military on Friday announced a more than four-month cessation of its activities in northern areas where it is fighting ethnic minority insurgents, in what appeared to be a rare conciliatory move aimed at kick-starting peace talks.

The army would “stop military operations in respective military regions” in the north and east of the country until April 30, 2019, the office of the military’s commander in chief said in a statement.

The cessation would allow military negotiators to conduct talks with insurgent groups that have refused to sign up to a nationwide ceasefire agreement, with the aim of completing a peace process by 2020, it said.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay said the military had informed the civilian administration led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of the announcement, and that the two sides were “cooperating” on the peace process.

“We hope there will be good results,” Zaw Htay told a news conference in the capital, Naypyidaw.