Burma army

A Non-Government Organization and local residents working and living in the area around Namhsan Godawng village in Shan State blame an exploded bomb on a militia group aligned to the Burma Army. Sources close to the militia group said the bomb blast was an attempt by the local militia group from Muse Township to avoid being sent to frontline as…

Villagers in the Three Pagoda Pass region have accused government troops of using them as human shields against attacks from ethnic armed groups in Karen State. After suffering casualties in ambushes by Karen fighters, Burma army soldiers from Artillery Battalion and Light Infantry Battalion 543 based at Three Pagodas Pass Town forced 16 villagers from three villages to go with…

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…

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…

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…

Karen soldiers attacked and destroyed Burma Army food supplies on a controversial highway construction linking southern Burma to Thailand. A source from the Karen National Liberation Army’s 4th Brigade told Karen News, that on September 10, KNLA soldiers burnt and destroyed Burma Army rations that were being transported by a civilian truck commandeered by the army. The KNLA source said…

There may be a new government in Burma, but it is army is still using force recruiting children into its army according to a child soldier who recently deserted to the Karen National Union. Private Maung Ye Htet 17, no.T-438567 from Infantry Battalion 372 based at Maw Kee village in Myawaddy Township said he deserted to Karen National Liberation Army…

Villagers from Kyauk Gu in Three Pagoda township said Burma Army soldiers randomly shelled their homes, destroying houses and killing cattle. Kyauk Gu residents say the Burma Army fired about 40, 60 mm mortars into the village after fighting between Karen armed groups and the Burma Army, Light Infantry Battalion 543 under Military Operations Command 5. A local resident told…

I can’t remember how many times the Karen National Union and other ethnic political organisations have been dismissed as losing, or being on the verge of defeat. In February 1950 General Ne Win boasted to international media that victory over the Karen ‘insurgents’ would be completed by May that year. The New York Times duly reported: “Defeat of rebels withdrawing…

Villagers who witnessed two civilians killed last week say Burma Army soldiers on a search and kill mission fired indiscriminately into a jungle hiding site killing the two civilians in Southern Burma, on August 21. A local Karen National Union source from Mergui-Tavoy District (Tenasserim Division) told Karen News that soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 555, led by Commander Zaw…