34 Kayin Armed Group Members Surrender to Myanmar GovtThirty-four members of the Kayin National Union (KNU), Myanmar's largest anti-government ethnic armed group which has not made peace yet with the government, surrendered to government forces earlier this month, official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Sunday.The 34 KNU members, led by platoon commander Hwayt Laphe, " exchanged arms for peace" in Dawei township, the country's southern Tanintharyi division, on January 9, the paper said, adding that they brought along with them 10 assorted weapons and 198 rounds of ammunition. The KNU has been operating for over five decades fighting the government since the early days of Myanmar's independence. The KNU lost its headquarters at Manerplaw and Kawmoora in Myanmar-Thai border area during an attack by its splinter group, the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Organization backed by the government, in January-February 1995. Although four rounds of peace talks have been held between the KNU and the government since December 1995, peace has not yet been achieved between the two sides. According to official information, up to now, 17 anti- government ethnic armed groups as well as the Mong Tai Army, led by former drug warlord Khun Sa, have made peace with the government with cease-fire agreements respectively reached between them. |
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