Karen News

Guerilla warfare waged by Karen fighters on the Burma Army near Kawkareik Township resulted in 10 dead and injured four soldiers from the Light Infantry Battalion 202 based on the main Myawaddy-Kawkareik road. The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army said its troops had on the afternoon of October 3rd attacked the Burma Army LIB 202 position on the mountain road between…

Burma’s ruling party is sending its members to Karen non-ceasefire areas in the southern part of the country bearing peace offers. The most recent case involved a member of parliament from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, Saw Ha Bee, an ethnic Karen, who held a meeting with local officials, religious leaders and community leaders in Pa Wat Hta…

Villagers from Htee Law Thi accuse Border Guard Force soldiers of laying landmines around their homes and on footpaths. Saw Pa Dee, the villager headman, explained to Karen News that villagers are scared to leave their homes. “Villagers have already stepped on four landmines, luckily only one exploded. Our animals – a dog, a pig and a goat – exploded…

A combined force of Karen fighters launched an attack on a Burma Army outpost at Kyaung Sha Kone area in Myawaddy Township killing four soldiers and destroying a bus, according to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. Major San Aung, a DKBA spokeperson, confirmed that on September 25, a combined force of Karen fighters from the DKBA’s Klo Htoo Wah Tactical…

A suspension bridge in Mae Ra Ma Luang refugee camp that was swept away in the worst floodwaters seen for 50 years in northern Thailand has been rebuilt by international NGO’s, including the Thailand Burma Border Consortium. The Karen Refugee Committee said the suspension footbridge in the Mae Ra Ma Luang Refugee Camp that links Section 7A to 7B and…

The Women League of Burma has called for an end to the civil war and atrocities with other six points of recommendation to the Burma government in their statement released on 21st September to mark the United Nation’s International Day of Peace. The WLB’s statement agrees and respects calls made by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her open letter…

Last week the Karen National Union announced in a media statement that it would hold a ceasefire day to acknowledge the United Nation’s International Day of Peace. The KNU statement asked the Burma government to do likewise. “To demonstrate our commitment to peace, and respect for the United Nations, the KNU will observe a unilateral one-day ceasefire on 21st September…

The Pa-an based Plone-Swor Democratic Party of Karen State is to launch a monthly journal in the coming Karen New Year. The magazine will cover politics, Karen issues and international news. The new magazine is set to challenge the government’s claims that it is serious about creating media free environment. According to the PSDP’s youth chairman, S’Be Kyin Oo, a…

The Union Solidarity and Development Party, Burma’s ruling party are on a recruitment drive to gain party members in Karen State, according to local residents. Local USDP members in Three Pagoda Pass area of Kyain Seikgyi Township in Karen State are campaigning in villages around the region to get more Karen to join their party. An eyewitness to the USDP…

Nan Paw Gay editor of Karen News said the death last week of Shan journalist Sai Hseng Zeun aka U Sein Kyi, will be a huge loss, not only to his community, but to ethnic journalism in particular. “There are not so many ethnic journalists with the experience and commitment that Sai Hseng Zeun had. His death is a huge…