The leaders of the ceasefire group, known as the Shan State Nationalities Peoples’ Liberation Organization (SSNPLO), are Chairman Ta Kalei, Vice Chairman Sein Shwe and Soe Aung Lwin, one of the organization’s officers.

The leaders were summoned on February 18, one day after a clash with a splinter group known as the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO).

The clash took place in Sesai Township in Taunggyi, the Shan State capital, according to PNLO sources.

The SSNPLO, which has about 100 members based at its headquarters in Naung Tao, in southern Shan State, is one of the ethnic ceasefire groups that have been pressured by the Burmese regime to disarm since 2006. It signed a ceasefire agreement with the military government in 1994.

Col Khun Thurein, the general secretary of the PNLO said, “They [the Burmese army] will likely take this opportunity to accuse the group [SSNPLO] of having relationships with other rebel groups and pressure the group till it disarms.”

The area where the clash occurred was patrolled by troops from Light Infantry Battalion 423 under Military Operations Command 7.

The SSNPLO disarmed once in 2004 but again split into two groups.

A splinter group of SSNPLO, numbering about 130 people with 35 soldiers, led by Col Chit Maung disarmed in June 2007.

The PNLO split from the SSNPLO in late 2007, said the group’s leader, Col Khun Thurein.

The military government pressured many ethnic ceasefire groups, including the United Wa State Army and the Kachin Independence Army, to disarm before the formation of the National Convention in 2007.