Truce signed between rebels, Myanmar government
The government of Myanmar has signed a ceasefire agreement with several ethnic minority militia groups in the hope of ending decades of civil war.
On Thursday, Myanmar’s President Thein Sein inked the accord in the capital, Naypyidaw, in a televised signing ceremony attended by the army chief and rebel representatives.
Representatives from China, Japan, the US and other countries were invited for the historic event.
The truce comes after over two years of talks between the government and rival rebel groups, following government pledges for reform.
The ceasefire, however, is limited, as not all the rebel groups, including the major Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army, signed it.
Only eight of the 15 armed groups operating in Myanmar signed the agreement.
Violent clashes still rage in parts of the country, mainly in the northern Kachin and Shan states.
President Thein Sein had been pushing for the deal to include all ethnic rebels and for it to be signed before the general elections next month.
The government removed from its list of unlawful associations all of the groups that signed the agreement.
Since the end of the British colonial rule in the country in 1948, Myanmar has been grappling with internal struggles from countless ethnic minority armies battling for greater autonomy.
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