April 20, local time, myanmar’s Karen National Armed 5th Brigade issued a statement saying that the military detained the country’s leaders, leading to the suspension of the peace process, government forces in the armed areas of the residents of air strikes, a serious violation of the national ceasefire agreement. The statement also rejected allegations by Myanmar’s National Governing Council spokesman, Zoe Min-tong, that the militants had launched attacks on government forces and provoked clashes.
The Fifth Brigade, the main unit of the Karen National Armed Forces, has recently clashed with Government forces on a number of occasions and captured a military camp of government forces in the town of Paben, Karen State, on 27 March. Since then, government forces have launched a number of air strikes on the Karen armed areas, resulting in a large number of refugees fled to the Myanmar-Thai border.
