A/HRC/39/CRP.2 fighting between the two armed groups caused 350 civilians to flee another village called Man Lwe in Kyaukme Township, Shan State.720 331. In November 2016, the Northern Alliance, composed of the KIA, the TNLA, the MNDAA, and the AA, launched an offensive attack against police and military outposts and a business centre in Muse and Kutkai Townships in northern Shan State. Reports estimate that at least eight people were killed and 29 wounded. Bullets also crossed the Ruili River into Chinese territory, and wounded a Chinese national. About 3,000 residents fled to China to escape the fighting and more than 2,700 others were reported to have been internally displaced.721 332. In early March 2017, the Mission received credible but unverified reports that at least 30 persons were killed when the MNDAA launched an attack against police and military posts in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. Thousands fled across the border into China. A separate group of fighters later attacked locations in Laukkai. Official Government statements, accompanied by graphic pictures of the dead and wounded, informed that at least five civilians and five local police officers were killed in the fighting. It also said that a further 20 “burned bodies” had been found alongside weapons reportedly of MNDAA fighters. 722 (b) Recruitment into armed groups and forced labour 333. The Mission amassed a reliable body of information drawing a pattern of some of the EAOs forcing adults and children to join their armed ranks. 723 While some EAOs may not have an official policy of forced recruitment – or policies that have been reformed or changed during the reporting period – the situation on the ground demonstrates that persons are often recruited against their will. Victims and witnesses have also told the Mission that even if there is no policy of forced recruitment per se, there is no space to object to joining the ranks of certain armed groups. This could be due to a general perception that ethnic minorities in the North need to fight the Tatmadaw and defend their people. Furthermore, there are few alternatives available to villagers, with the drugs trade and gambling businesses the principle other employers. 334. Victims of forced recruitment that have shared their accounts with the Mission were forcibly recruited in areas controlled by the EAOs, 724 but also in government-controlled areas.725 In the latter cases, EAOs would recruit at night or through letters. 726 Because of the limited information obtained, the Mission was unable to draw the specific geographical locations of this recruitment. However, information suggests that it occurred in both Kachin and Shan States and throughout the reporting period. 335. Sources mentioned to the Mission that the SSA-S had a compulsory recruitment policy,727 especially during the early years of the reporting period. While the SSA-S had a policy of one person from each household joining their ranks, one source stated that this was enforced in a compulsory manner, 728 while another source stated that it was voluntary. 729 A further interviewee stated that, “you don’t really have a choice to go fight along the SSAS”.730 336. Similarly, the Mission noted a comparable practice among the TNLA, but also with conflicting information as to the extent to which the practice was “compulsory”. According to some sources, while it was obligatory for families who had two siblings, especially two 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 84 K-143. K-143. V-302, V-303. DI-070, PI-033, PI-015, PI-050, PI-095, PI-096, PI-072, PI-097, PI-101, PI-112, QI-081, QI-088, QI092, QI-093, QI-094, QI-096. PI-015, PI-095, PI-096, PI-101, QI-088. PI-027, PI-033, QI-081, QI-094, QI-096. QI-081, QI-094, QI-096. PI-050, QI-093. QI-093. BM-017. PI-050.