The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military arm of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), has distributed weapons to villagers and told them to shoot at junta troops if they approach their villages, according to local sources.
Speaking from Laiza, where the KIO headquarters are located, a Kachin woman said, “the KIA has given us weapons and bullets so that we can shoot at junta troops if they approach our villages and they have begun to select special security forces in the villages in preparation for the expected military offensive.”
Due to fear that an attack on KIO-controlled areas is imminent, plans are being made to evacuate elderly Kachin villagers and children to safer areas on the Sino-Chinese border, but the young have decided to stay and fight, she said.
“If we don't defend ourselves, our people will have no land left,” she said. “Many of the young people are not afraid to fight to defend our land,” said the woman, saying she will stay and fight rather than run away.
Meanwhile, KIO representatives talked with officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in early October about taking care of soldiers who may be wounded in the expected fighting, according to James Lun Dau, a central committee member of the KIO.
Since the beginning of the year the KIA has been training more than 100 villagers a month as special security guards in KIO-controlled areas, adding to the KIA forces of between 4,000 and 8,000 troops who are ready to fight.
The weapons distribution took place amid increased tension after junta troops raided the KIO's Liasion offices in Mohnyin Township and arrested a KIA liaison officer and two soldiers after Burmese state-run media branded the KIA as “insurgents” on Oct. 15, accusing the KIA of planting a mine that killed two villagers and wounded a third two days previously.
KIA spokesperson, Wawhkuyung Sin Wa, said they had not met with junta officers to discuss the incident and had no information on the fate of the missing KIA men, adding that KIA troops would shoot if junta troops approached their area.
By LAWI WENG
The KIO signed a cease-fire agreement with the military junta in 1994 as part of an attempted political solution to resolve the status of ethnic Kachin peoples in Burma after more than 20 years of fighting with the junta.
While the cease-fire has brought some economic development to Kachin areas, observers note that little progress towards a lasting political solution has been made.
The recent tension has come to a head after the junta threatened to use force if the KIO rejects junta plans to convert the KIA into a Burmese army-controlled border guard force before the Nov. 7 election.
“We wanted to have political talks with them [the junta] from the very first after we signed the cease-fire agreement, but the junta have not cooperated so it has been a bit like trying to clap with one hand—it takes two hands to make a sound,” said James Lun Dau.
Speaking from Laiza, where the KIO headquarters are located, a Kachin woman said, “the KIA has given us weapons and bullets so that we can shoot at junta troops if they approach our villages and they have begun to select special security forces in the villages in preparation for the expected military offensive.”
Due to fear that an attack on KIO-controlled areas is imminent, plans are being made to evacuate elderly Kachin villagers and children to safer areas on the Sino-Chinese border, but the young have decided to stay and fight, she said.
“If we don't defend ourselves, our people will have no land left,” she said. “Many of the young people are not afraid to fight to defend our land,” said the woman, saying she will stay and fight rather than run away.
Meanwhile, KIO representatives talked with officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in early October about taking care of soldiers who may be wounded in the expected fighting, according to James Lun Dau, a central committee member of the KIO.
Since the beginning of the year the KIA has been training more than 100 villagers a month as special security guards in KIO-controlled areas, adding to the KIA forces of between 4,000 and 8,000 troops who are ready to fight.
The weapons distribution took place amid increased tension after junta troops raided the KIO's Liasion offices in Mohnyin Township and arrested a KIA liaison officer and two soldiers after Burmese state-run media branded the KIA as “insurgents” on Oct. 15, accusing the KIA of planting a mine that killed two villagers and wounded a third two days previously.
KIA spokesperson, Wawhkuyung Sin Wa, said they had not met with junta officers to discuss the incident and had no information on the fate of the missing KIA men, adding that KIA troops would shoot if junta troops approached their area.
By LAWI WENG
The KIO signed a cease-fire agreement with the military junta in 1994 as part of an attempted political solution to resolve the status of ethnic Kachin peoples in Burma after more than 20 years of fighting with the junta.
While the cease-fire has brought some economic development to Kachin areas, observers note that little progress towards a lasting political solution has been made.
The recent tension has come to a head after the junta threatened to use force if the KIO rejects junta plans to convert the KIA into a Burmese army-controlled border guard force before the Nov. 7 election.
“We wanted to have political talks with them [the junta] from the very first after we signed the cease-fire agreement, but the junta have not cooperated so it has been a bit like trying to clap with one hand—it takes two hands to make a sound,” said James Lun Dau.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Masha langai ngai a tingkyeng shinggyim ahkaw ahkang hpe hkra machyi shangun ai zawn re ai Gasi ,Ga hkum ni,Kyinsha Lasha re ai Gasi,Ga hkum ni hpe koi gam ga