Wa and Mongla forces deny helping Kokang rebels

28 February 2015
Wa and Mongla forces deny helping Kokang rebels
Wa soldiers on parade. Photo: Li Ai Vax/Facebook

The United Wa State Army and the Mongla Army have denied allegations by Myanmar’s military that they are helping ethnic Kokang rebels fight government troops in northern Shan State, according to Radio Free Asia on February 27.
Military clashes over the last three weeks have displaced tens of thousands of people.
UWSA spokesman U Aung Myint said on February 27 that his group and the Mongla Army sent a joint letter to President U Thein Sein the day before in which his group rejected claims they were helping the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army or MNDAA rebels retake Shan State’s Kokang self-administered zone, which they had controlled until 2009.
The letter also said they were not supplying weapons to the Kokang armed group.
U Aung Myint told the RFA they totally reject allegations of helping the MNDAA.