Over 600 fighters from two groups that had defected to the junta rejoined the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) with their arms on 5 September 2024.

The two returning groups were the Seng Keaw militia group led by Sao Loi Mao and the Mong Khur 3rd Brigade.

Fighters from both groups were welcomed back by the SSPP/SSA Chairman, Sao Pang Fa, at a ceremony held at the SSP/SSA headquarters in Wanhai Village in Kyethi Township, Shan State on the morning of 5 September, according to an SSPP source.

They said to SHAN: “This morning, the Seng Keaw group, led by Sao Loi Mao and the Mong Khur 3rd Brigade returned to the Wanhai headquarters with all their weapons. SSPP Chairman Sao Pang Fa personally welcomed them with a ceremony. This marks the full reunion of both the Seng Keaw and Mong Khur groups with their parent organisation.”

The Seng Keaw group is led by Sao Loi Mao and the Mong Khur 3rd Brigade is led by Sao Hla Myint. Both groups defected to the Myanmar Army in 2010 and were converted into militia groups under the army’s control.

Militia groups under the Myanmar military normally consist of 308 men, so it is estimated that about 612 men rejoined the SSPP/SSA.

In August the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) seized the junta’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 23 base near to the Seng Keaw militia group’s headquarters in Seng Keaw Village, in Hsipaw (a.k.a Thibaw) Township near the border with Mongyai Township in Shan State.

Though the SSPP/SSA has declared that it will stand against the junta, until now it has not been openly involved in any large offensives against the junta. Though it has been reported that on a few occasions SSPP/SSA troops helped Three Brotherhood Alliance members during some of their offensives against the junta, the SSPP/SSAA has generally avoided getting involved in fighting.