BGF

Since July 2010, Burma’s military regime has insisted on keeping the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border checkpoint closed in retaliation for what it claims was the unofficial construction of a concrete embankment on the Thai side. A year has almost passed and the border crossing between Mae Sot and Myawaddy is still closed. In spite of rumours that it would open after…

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army border guard force (BGF) in Myawaddy Township in Karen State has turned to a lottery system to recruit new soldiers after a call last month for new recruits went unheeded, according to an official from the Karen National Union (KNU). Saw Aung Maw Aye, a KNU official from Pa-An district, said a call for recruits…

Karen National Liberation Army sources confirmed that clashes in May in the Walay area of Myawaddy Township between Karen fighters and the Burmese army had killed six Burmese soldiers and wounded seven others. Major General Saw Kyi Aung, commander of KNLA Battalion 201 who fought in the clashes, said KNLA forces engaged Burmese troops from Light Infantry Brigade 371 based…

The Burma Army plans to militarize eastern Burma suffered a severe set-back in central Pa-an when more than a 1,000 soldiers of the recently formed Border Guard Force joined forces with fighters aligned to the Karen National Union. During the last 18 months, the Burma army has attempted to disarm and dismantle ethnic ceasefire groups under its control. The military…

Aging and infirm officers of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army’s Border Guard Force who have retired and fled to liberated areas of Karen State say they have received death threats from active officers. Saw Mu Hsoe, also known as Hta Kler, served as second in command of Brigade 999’s Battalion 3 prior to his retirement and says he remains under…