"Members of three ethnic armed groups known as the Brotherhood Alliance have asked the Myanmar army not to exclude Rakhine State from a unilateral ceasefire from May 10 to Aug. 31 as the country is trying to control the coronavirus pandemic. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) issued a joint statement Sunday saying that the Myanmar army should not exclude Rakhine from its latest ceasefire, as it has in the past, as the military has ongoing offensives in Rakhine and in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, where many local people are suffering the impacts of the fighting. The Brotherhood Alliance extended its own ceasefire for one month on May 3 but fighting between the groups and the Myanmar military has continued. The military, also known as the Tatmadaw, announced a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday that will last until Aug. 31 and cover the whole country except areas where terrorist organizations are based, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense. The Myanmar government declared the AA a terrorist group in late March. The group is involved in ongoing fighting with the Tatmadaw in western Myanmar. “The Tatmadaw announced a unilateral ceasefire for all areas except areas recognized as the base of a terrorist organization, which refers to Rakhine and Paletwa in Chin,” said the military statement on Saturday..."