Only half of Myanmar's armed groups signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in October last year, while nine others stayed out.

The eight groups that signed the pact were the All Burma Students' Democratic Front, Arakan Liberation Party, Chin National Front, Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council, Karen National Union, Pa-O National Liberation Organisation, and the Shan Sate Army - South.

The nine that stayed out included United Wa State Army - believed to be the largest and best equipped of the country's armed ethnic groups - and Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), whose armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army, has clashed regularly with the Myanmar military since 2011.

The eight groups which signed the ceasefire have been removed from the government's list of "unlawful associations", thus becoming legal groups.