"The TNLA said that clashes were still common, despite a unilateral ceasefire declared by the Burma Army late last year. The Burma Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) have clashed repeatedly since Sunday in northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township, in the latest sign that a unilateral ceasefire first declared by the Burma Army at the end of last year is doing little to end hostilities there. According to Maj. Mai Aik Kyaw of the TNLA, the two sides started fighting early Sunday afternoon as the Burma Army brought reinforcement troops into the area from Lashio. They exchanged fire three times that day and twice on Monday, he said. “Their reinforcement troops entered into this area yesterday [August 4]. This has continued until this morning. What I can say is that there will be more clashes in this area in the coming days,” he told NMG on Monday. The clashes on Monday occurred near the villages of Nam Hyon and Tarmohnye in Kutkai Township. According to local sources, fighting between TNLA forces and troops from the Burma Army’s Light Infantry Division (LID) 99 based in Tarmohnye closed the Kutkai-Tarmohnye road for most of the day. “They have clashed since early this morning [August 5]. The road was closed around 7am, trapping many cars and people. It reopened around 3 or 4pm. Many people heard the sound of guns shooting and the firing of heavy weapons,” one Kutkai resident told NMG..."