Three civilians were shot dead in northern Shan State’s Kyaukme Township during armed clashes between Burmese government forces and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on Sunday, according to an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).

MP Sai Htun Nyan, who represents Kyaukme Township Constituency No 2, said that the fighting took place in Jarng Huang tract about a half mile from Kyaukme Township. He confirmed that three people had been killed.

“The three victims were local villagers,” he told Shan Herald on Monday. “They were truck drivers.”

Sai Htun Nyan said that eye-witnesses had informed him that the three victims were found wearing TNLA uniform shirts. However, he questioned whether the shirts had been put on before or after the men’s deaths.

Other local sources told Shan Herald that the three victims were identified as Sai Sarng Lwin and Sai Win Kyaing from Tawsarng tract, and Sai Ai Woon from Jarng Huang.

No details of how the killings occurred have been forthcoming by the time of press.

Since 2012, fighting has regularly broken out between Burmese armed forces and TNLA troops. The Ta’ang or Palaung rebel faction is among those armed groups excluded from signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement by the government in 2015.

According to Myanmar Peace Monitor, there were 309 clashes between the two armies in 2016, most of which occurred in northern Shan State towns such as Naung Cho, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Kutkai and Namhsan.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)