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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Burmese Army Raids KIA Offices

 By BA KAUNG

Burmese troops raided offices of the ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State on Monday night and detained at least two KIA officers, increasing the specter of imminent fighting in the northern part of the country just a few days ahead of the country's first elections in 20 years. 


The raid, on the KIA liaison offices in Mohnyin Township, came four days after the Burmese state-controlled media labeled the ethnic Kachin's 8,000-strong army as “insurgents,” the first time it has used this designation since the group's ceasefire agreement with the regime in 1994. The cease-fire ended the Kachins' decades-long armed struggle for autonomy.

KIA spokesman Wawhkuyung Sinwa said the latest armed incident came  after Burmese soldiers, earlier on Monday, detained a KIA liaison officer, Lt. Lun Hkawng, on his return from the hospital in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State, where he had visited a patient.

The patient is recovering from injuries suffered in the mine blast last week in Kachin State, which the regime media blamed on the KIA. The KIA did not claim direct responsibility for the blast, but admitted in a later statement that it has planted mines around the perimeters of its controlled territories. Local residents had been warned about the existence of those mines, however, the KIA said.

Later on Monday, around 8 pm, Burmese soldiers raided the KIA liaison offices in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State, forcing the doors open and detaining at least two KIA officers for questioning.
“We are now trying to find out about the situation of the detained officers. We have lost contact with them,” the KIA spokesman said.

According to a KIA intelligence officer, the liaison offices served as part of anti-narcotics fighting units, but Burmese troops who carried out the raid said they were searching for illicit drugs.

"They [the Burmese army] want to find fault with us and our liaison offices,” KIA Vice Chief of Staff Sumlut Gun Maw told the BBC Burmese service on Monday. “We don't think the situation will escalate too much. But if fighting erupts, we are all prepared...but we won't start shooting first.”

On Tuesday, the KIA leadership sent high-ranking officers to meet military affairs security units based in the region, according to Naw Din, the editor of Thailand-based Kachin News Group.
Asked if the latest incident would spark major military clashes prior to the election, he said: “We would see an extensive form of guerrilla warfare in the urban areas of Kachin State once the fighting breaks out again, though the regime will focus its military offensives on the KIA military strongholds.”

The regime has attempted ahead of the Nov. 7 election to assimilate all armed ethnic groups, including the KIA and United Wa State Army (UWSA), under its direct command with the Border Guard Force (BGF) plan.

The KIA formally announced on Sept. 1 that it would not accept the BGF, and the regime responded by increasing its attempts to control the movements of KIA troops and personnel of the political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). The regime's Election Commission also rejected an application by former leaders of the KIO to register a political party to contest the election and dismissed their applications to run as independent candidates.

Citing security concerns, the regime also announced that the election would not take place in several townships and villages in  Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Mon and Shan states, including four townships in the Wa self-administered division.

Since the KIA was founded in 1961 to fight for a free Kachin republic, it has engaged in fierce fighting with the Burmese government's troops until the ceasefire was achieved in 1994. Although the group was allowed to keep arms and control over parts of the region, the political question of autonomy remains unresolved.

“This latest incident is no small issue between us and the Burmese troops,” said the KIA intelligence officer on condition of anonymity. “We take this very seriously because this happened after the regime called us insurgents,”

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