Karen State

Fighting between the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and the Burma Army is continuing along the newly opened Asia Highway 1. Nan Paw Gay had attended a preliminary Karen National Conference in Rangoon and hoping to return to the border area via Hpa-an. “There was fighting on Sunday and officials had told us that there was still shooting today.” Nan Paw…

Fighting between government troops and soldiers from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army on the new Myawaddy – Kawkareik Asia Highway this Thursday morning, 2nd July. Karen News is led to understand that the fighting broke out over security for the highway over a planned official visit to the area. The fighting between the Burma Army Infantry Battalion 231 under the…

The Unity Committee for Karen armed groups held a special meeting to discuss the management of the tollgates on the Myawaddy-Kawkareik section of the Asia highway in Karen State. Currently the gates are run by different Karen armed groups that has caused difficulties for travelers and traders who need to use the road on a regular basis. The meeting took…

The Karen National Liberation Army 2nd Brigade based in the Taungoo District confirmed to Karen News that a small firefight between its solders and the government troops happened on April 20. Lieutenant Saw Prah, company commander of the KNLA 2nd Brigade’s security force told Karen News that the fighting was between his soldiers and the Burma Army’s Infantry Battalion 589…

The Karen National Union is holding a central standing committee emergency meeting to discuss the draft nationwide ceasefire agreement and the ethnic armed organization summit at its headquarters at Lay Wah, Hlaingbwe Townhip in Pa-an District from April 20-22, 2015. Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein, vice chairperson of the KNU spoke to Karen News about the meeting. “There will be presentations…

The Burma Children Medical Fund organized and took a team of health specialists from Mae Tao Clinic, located in the Thai border town of Mae Sot and from Lampang Hospital, northern Thailand to Hpa-an in eastern Burma. The health specialists were in Hpa-an to do echocardiogram screenings on children and adults with heart problems. Ms Thornton said that the echocardiogram…

The Karen Women Empowerment Group (KWEG), a community based group in Hpa-an ran a training for villagers to help them understand how to vote and what their rights are related to elections. The three-day training workshop was held from 24 to 26 of March at the KWEG office in Hpa-an. The training was attended by 20 villagers from Hpa-an, Kawkareik,…

Two Karen political parties have expressed their concern over the violent crackdown on student protesters saying the government’s use of force will not solve the problem and it could be a setback for the country’s reforms. The Plone-Sawow Democratic Party (PSDP) and the Karen Democratic Party (KDP) officially voiced their concerns over the police forcibly dispersing protesting students at Letpandan…

A Karen Human Right Groups report released on March 2nd accuses the Burma Army of targeting villagers with artillery shells in Northern Karen State. KHRG allege the government’s military directed its artillery bombardment on villagers in Papun Township. The KHRG report said that Burma Army indiscriminately fired artillery shells towards where villagers in the Saw Muh Plaw village tract were…

Hpa-an residents who lost their 40 acres of land to a construction project in town’s industrial zone want compensation from the government for the loss of their rubber plantations. Saw Khant Win Aung, had his land confiscated for the construction, said that on January 25, the Karen State Chief Minister, U Zaw Min, visited the project site and said that…