Locals reported that an unidentified armed group and the military clashed in a village in Lashio Township in northern Shan State on Saturday morning.

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A local man, who declined to give his name, said the fighting began at 6:30am and continued for an hour at Kon Sone in Nam Pawng village tract.

A shell landed in Kon Sone causing villagers from there and Hper Palan to flee.

“Nobody was wounded,” the man told SHAN, but he couldn’t say how many people have left their villages.

Many ethnic armed groups fighting the regime are in the area, including the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP).

On Friday 11 March, the SSPP fought the military in Mongyai Township, Lashio District.

The junta claimed to declare a unilateral ceasefire for the whole country for 2023, but has stepped up attacks on groups opposing its rule across Burma with air and ground forces.