The main group coordinating opposition to military rule in Myanmar has rejected a surprise offer from the ruling generals to hold talks on a political solution to the country’s nationwide armed conflict.

Myanmar's ruling military on Thursday urged its armed opponents to abandon what it called "terrorism" and join the political fold in a general election next year, in an unexpected outreach to its enemies that was quickly rebuffed.

Myanmar's junta carried out fresh air strikes on an opposition-held town on Sept. 27, hours after issuing an unprecedented invitation to its enemies for talks on the country's civil war.

Myanmar's embattled junta on Thursday invited armed groups opposed to its rule to stop fighting and start talks to bring peace, after three-and-a-half years of conflict."We invite ethnic armed groups,

Ye Myo Hein, a senior expert on Myanmar at the United States Institute of Peace, said the military's call to cease fighting, made public in a statement Thursday, was aimed to appease China. "The SAC [State Administration Council] is making overtures to Beijing,