MYANMAR-POLITICS-MINORITIES-UNREST

This picture taken on February 3, 2015 shows men (L) unloading a truck as Shan State Army - South (SSA-S) commandos patrol the streets, in Lot Tai Leng, in Myanmar's northeastern Shan State, a few days ahead of the 68th Shan National Day celebrations which were held on February 7 at the SSA-S headquarters in Loi Tai Leng. The Shan National Day marks the unification of many Shan principalities into a single Shan State in 1947. The SSA-S is one of the largest rebel groups in Burma and fights in Shan State for self-determination of the Shan people in Myanmar. Though a ceasefire was signed in 2011 sporadic fighting continues between the SSA-S and the Myanmar army. Myanmar's government on February 12, 2015 held a somber ceremony marking the nation's symbolic unification after the colonial era, but a coveted ceasefire with ethnic rebel groups remained out of reach as conflict sweeps across northern borderlands. AFP PHOTO / KC Ortiz (Photo by KC Ortiz / AFP) (Photo by KC ORTIZ/AFP via Getty Images)