Burmese army seizes Shan rebel outpost after latest attack

[Zomi for Federalization and Democratization of Bur]

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The ceasefire agreement was unilaterally broken by the Brutal Bamar
Buddhist Fascist Mercenary Terrorist Rapist (BBBFMTR) armed thugs
again. The BBBFMTR USDP goverment is not trustworthy. The people of
Burma has been undergoing untold sufferings because of the anti-
democratic, anti-people, law-breaking BBBFMTR USDP government.
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Burmese army seizes Shan rebel outpost after latest attack

By NANG MYA NADI
Published: 10 May 2013

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Photo:

Shan rebels carry out a military drill at their headquarters in Loi
Taileng, February 2011 (Francis Wade)
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The Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) has lost an outpost near the Sino-
Burmese border, after coming under a fierce attack by the Burmese army
on Thursday morning, rebels told DVB on Friday.

SSA-S spokesperson, Major Sai Lao Hseng, said the group was forced to
withdraw from their outpost in Nawngma village, Namhkam township, on
Thursday afternoon after hundreds of Burmese soldiers descended on
their territory.

“After the clash went on for a while, the Burmese army began sending
more reinforcements – they had about 500-600 troops, while we only had
some ambush units and 100-200 troops scattered around the area,” said
Sai Lao Hseng.

Some 2,000 local residents from 19 villages on both sides of the
adjacent Ruili River were forced to flee from their homes – with many
heading over the Chinese border.

“As we were so outnumbered and a lot of artillery shells were hitting
homes in [nearby] villages, our commander decided to withdraw from the
area around 3pm in the afternoon,” said Sai Lao Hseng.

The SSA-S has instructed its troops in the area to return to pre-
ceasefire conditions and to engage in guerrilla warfare against
government forces.

Sai Lao Hseng added that yesterday’s fighting was the biggest
escalation in violence, since the group signed a ceasefire agreement
with the government in December 2011. But he insisted that the group
would try to maintain the ceasefire agreement until the government
formally revoked it.

A temple on the Chinese side of the border was reportedly hit by a
stray shell, while several Shan houses were damaged, according to Sai
Kyaw Ohn, a lower house representative for the Shan Nationalities
Democratic Party (SNDP) in Namhkam. He added that the area was left
with almost no transportation access on Thursday evening, driving
commodity prices through the roof.

According to a report in the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), the
Chinese army has deployed troops to its border in response to the
influx of refugees. They are reportedly still waiting to hear if it is
safe for them to return home.

Many displaced also sought shelter in Namhkam town on the Shan side of
the border, either staying with relatives or at a local monastery. Sai
Kyaw Ohn said the SNDP distributed food to over 100 displaced
villagers taking shelter at the Zeyathukha Monastery in Namhkam town
on Thursday evening, but that most had begun to return home by Friday
morning.

The SSA-S and the Burmese army have reportedly clashed over 50 times
since reaching a tentative ceasefire deal in December 2011. But the
violence has escalated in the past week, after government troops
raided and torched another rebel outpost in Namhkam township, claiming
to be searching for four missing Burmese civilians — whom rebels
suspect to be military intelligence officers.

The SSA-S is one of Burma’s largest armed ethnic groups, and has been
fighting for greater autonomy and ethnic rights in Burma for over half
a century.


http://www.dvb.no/news/politics-news/burmese-army-seizes-shan-rebel-outpost-after-latest-attack/28130
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