Myanmar captures five ethnic armed group members in fighting

Myanmar government forces have captured five Rakhine ethnic armed group members following fighting in Paletwa over the weekend, the military-run Myawaddy reported Wednesday.

Paletwa lies between Chin state and Rakhine state.

The five Rakhine armed group members were caught in a hideout, where arms and ammunition were also seized on Sunday.

Fighting occurred between the government's military column and the Rakhine ethnic armed group last Friday as the government troops were patrolling in the area.

Upon tip-off that the Rakhine armed group, which the government terms as insurgent, has sneaked into Paletwa area, the government forces were engaged in fighting with the Rakhine armed group at Pinlong village, 12.4 kilometers north of Kyauktaw, and at a highland near Aung Lan Chaung village on the day.

The government forces continued to comb the areas in order to prevent such infiltration, the report said.

Meanwhile, peace negotiators of the Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups concluded negotiation of a draft nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) on March 30 and the draft accord was preliminarily signed in Yangon on March 31, leaving the formal signing to be completed after the draft NCA is approved by top level of respective sides. Endi