Burma army

Tensions are running high after a Burma Army officer beat up Karen National Union member and detained him in Southern Burma. The incidence happened at a checkpoint located near Ka Saw Wah village in Tenasserim Division that is in the Karen National Union’s Brigade 4. A Burma Army operation commander beat up and detained the KNU member, Saw Ah Pih…

Burma’s Army launched new air and artillery strikes against the Kachin Independence Army on the 18th of January despite the government announcing a ceasefire to begin 6am on Saturday. Humanitarian groups monitoring the situation from inside Kachin State said air strikes had stopped but heavy artillery continues to bombarded KIA positions. The ceasefire announcement comes as the U.S. and UK…

First use of airstrikes by the government in twenty years raises prospect of increased numbers of civilian deaths in conflict areas – community groups condemned air strikes. The Burma Army’s appalling human rights abuses, especially in the conflict zones of ethnic states is well documented by international humanitarian groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International On 2 January 2013,…

Villagers in the Thandaung area were frightened by a Burma Army helicopter that repeatedly flew over their homes last week – the area is under the Karen National Union’s Taungoo District and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army 2nd Brigade. Local sources said that the helicopter flew to Tate Pu military camp on January 1 and to Bu…

The Free Burma Rangers humanitarian group has compiled a report and photographs that show “Burma Air Force jets and MI24 attack helicopters attacking the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) northern Burma.” Tha FBR reports note that the Burma military attacked at 8am on the 29 December. FBR noted that, “Burma Air Force jets attacked KIA positions at Laijayang, 10 kilometers southwest…

Since October 26, Karen National Union representatives and members of community-based-groups have attended the KNU 15th Congress to vote in a new executive, department heads and the central standing committee. Karen News spoke to two KNU representatives attending the Congress about the changes that the ceasefire in Karen State has brought. Saw Klo Mutraw is an officer with the Karen…

Karen villagers working in their rice fields and plantations were terrified when jet fighters starting dropping bombs and machine-gunning the area. Government authorities failed to warn citizens that the jet fighters were taking part in a military training exercise in the Taungoo District. Villagers in the Tantabin Township region of Taungoo District said they were frightened by the explosions made…

The Karen National Union claim move by the Burma Army to force Karen villagers to attend militia training will damage trust between the two sides during ongoing ‘peacetalks’. The KNU alleges that the Burma Army has ordered Karen villagers in Southern Burma to attend military training and then intends to supply them with weapons. According to a KNU’s Mergui-Tavoy District…

The end of the monsoon season has seen the Burma Army repairing supply roads to their bases in Karen State. This has caused Karen army officers to question the strategy behind the rebuilding of the supply roads when the government is supposed to be withdrawing its troops from the region. The Burma Army began repairing the transportation road into Thandaung…

A sergeant from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed group operating in Northern Shan State, was arrested and killed by Burma Army yesterday while he was on leave and traveling back to his village to see a sick family member. Sergeant Ayaing Aung was travelling to Mout Tan Tay village in Manton Township of Northern Shan State. The…