Burmese Army Reinforces Troops for Dry Season Military Offensives
by Saw Yan Naing November 30, 2007
The Burmese government has reinforced troops in Karen State in preparation for dry season military offensives against the Karen National Union, according to sources close to the Burmese military regime.
The regime’s Central Command has sent about 10 Light Infantry Divisions which make up the Military Operation Command 4, with an estimated 20,000 soldiers, to southern and northern Karen State in November.
MOC 4 was sent to Mon and Kyauk Gyi in Pegu Division and Papun in northern Karen State. LID 88 with some 1,500 soldiers was sent to Kawkareik and Kyar Inn Seik Gyi in southern Karen State, according to the source.
Meanwhile, the Free Burma Rangers, a medical relief team that aids internally displaced persons, said some 3,000 Burmese soldiers of Light Infantry Division 33 in northern Karen State were sent to Mon in Pegu Division on November 20, accompanied by about 20 Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) soldiers and 100 porters.
Saw Steve, a member of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People, told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “Burmese troops started to enter Mon in Pegu Division in late November. Villagers are now on alert. After having meals, they [villagers] always keep their plates, pots and cups in a basket and they're prepared to flee if necessary.”
Mahn Sha, the secretary-general of the Karen National Union, said the Burmese army would probably launch armed operations after it completes stockpiling rations in the area.
“We've heard that they [Burmese armies] intend to launch military operations, especially against the KNU. Small clashes between the KNU and Burmese army happen every day in the region of Three Pagodas Pass, Kawkareik, Kyar Inn Seik Gyi, Myawaddy, Pa-an and Taungoo District.”
He said about 150 Burmese battalions are now stationed in Karen State. The Burmese army is also destroying villagers’ paddy fields and forcing villagers to work on the construction of two new roads in Karen State bordering Karenni State, Mahn Sha said.
On November 15, some 300 people, including at least 100 children in Ler Wah and Ta Hoe Aung villages in northern Karen state, fled an attack launched by Light Infantry Division 11, according to a FBR report. Two local villagers were killed by Light Infantry Battalion 218 and 219, the report said
Meanwhile, on November 20 Burmese units from MOC 8 and 19 arrived in the Three Pagodas Pass border area near Mon Sate in southern Burma, according to a ceasefire group, the New Mon State Party.
Nai ong Ma-nge, a spokesperson of the New Mon State Party, said troops have reinforced soldiers already stationed near the NMSP area, and they are likely to launch an offensive against the KNU.
He said the NMSP is also preparing for an attack from Burmese soldiers.
Nai ong Ma-nge said, “It is not good because they [Burmese soldiers] increased their troops in our ethnic areas while their leaders are talking about achieving political dialogue for national reconciliation. They should withdraw their armies.”
The NMSP is worried about the Burmese reinforcements around the Three Pagodas Pass—an area controlled by the NMSP, the KNU and the DKBA. Recently, the KNU closed down a road from Three Pagodas Pass to Thanbyuzayat because it believed the Burmese army planned to use the road when operating a military offensive against the KNU and Mon and Karen villages in the area.
On November 7, a two-hour clash occurred between Burmese soldiers from Infantry Battalion 577 and the Shan State Army – South at a village in Shan state.
Four Burmese soldiers were killed and four were injured. No SSA-S soldiers were injured, according to Sai Lao Hseng, a spokesperson for the SSA-S.
Tension between Burmese soldiers and the Kachin Independence Organization recently increased with both sides reinforcing troops near the China-Burma border. Burmese soldiers have also begun disrupting KIO businesses in the region, according to a local source.
A Burmese military offensive that began in February of 2006 in northern Karen State killed more than 370 villagers, including children, and displaced more than 30,000 people. More than 5,000 displaced persons fled to the Thai-Burma border area.
Irrawaddy.orghttp://www.irrawaddy.org/
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