MYANMAR’S military government and a major ethnic rebel group in the north-east have signed a formal ceasefire agreement, mediator China said today.

The ceasefire between the military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which seized large tracts of territory along the Chinese border, came into force on Saturday.

It is the second such pact in little over a year, a previous one in January last year not having been honoured by either side.