Ceasefire talks between Myanmar government and armed groups put off again

Nationwide ceasefire talks between Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups, which was originally scheduled to resume on Wednesday, have been put off again to an indefinite date, local media reported Monday, quoting the Myanmar Peace Center.
The resumed talks were planned to be held between the government's Union Peace Making Work Committee (UPWC) and the ethnic armed groups' National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT).
Despite being informed by the UPWC, the NCCT responded by saying that they will have their own meeting in Chaingmai, Thailand around the proposed date, said the Voice.
The two sides once agreed in September in their 6th round of talks at the Myanmar Peace Center in Yangon on the fourth draft nationwide ceasefire accord without finalization.
That fourth draft nationwide ceasefire accord was adopted following discussions on some remaining points out of 104 of the draft ceasefire accord, according to then statement released.
The two sides re-set October to continue their next talks but was delayed for several times.
Meanwhile, in the course of ceasefire talks, armed clashed broke out between the government forces and the ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in November. The government charged the KIA with disrupting its forces' normal movement by carrying out attack on government troops on Nov. 19 when they were repairing roads to transport food supplies. The government forces returned fire, resulting in casualties of the KIA side.
The KIA claimed that a total of 23 trainees were killed and 20 others injured in the government forces' artillery attack on a KIA military training school near Laiza in the Kachin state on the same day.