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Burmese Troops Seize Porters for Kh



/* Written  4:38 am  May 25, 1994 by cesloane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:bitl.seasia */
/* ---------- "Burmese Troops Seize Porters for Kh" ---------- */
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>From: clarinews@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Reuter/Sutin Wannabovorn)
>Subject: Burmese Troops Seize Porters for Khun Sa Battle
>Copyright: 1994 by Reuters, R
>Date: Wed, 25 May 94 0:11:23 PDT

         TACHILEK, Burma (Reuter) - Burmese government troops have
seized hundreds of people from this border town to serve as
porters in nearby hills where they are battling Golden Triangle
opium warlord Khun Sa, residents said Wednesday.
         Khun Sa, alias Chang Si-fu, the 60-year-old half-Chinese,
half-Shan commander of the Mong Tai Army (MTA), controls some of
the richest opium-producing areas in the Golden Triangle, the
area where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet.
         He says he merely taxes opium traders to finance the
struggle for the independence of Shan state from Rangoon but he
was indicted by a U.S. Federal court on heroin trafficking
charges in 1990.
         Burmese troops have swept through tea shops, restaurants and
gambling dens, seizing able-bodied men to carry ammunition and
other supplies to frontline positions.
         The roundups have sent hundreds fleeing across the nearby
border to Thailand to escape the draft, they said.
         ``More than 500 people have been rounded up and trucked to
the battlefield over the past five days,'' one Burmese trader
said.
         Traders and shopkeepers said people were living in a state
of fear and a self-imposed curfew was in effect with businesses
closing early and residents disappearing indoors to avoid the
regular evening sweeps for porters.
         Hundreds sought refuge on the Thai side of the border.
         ``Soldiers stormed my village a few days ago and arrested
everyone they could find,'' said 48-year-old Nan Hinh, now
hiding out in the Thai border town of Mae Sai.
         A Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in West
Burma's Arakan province faxed a statement to news agencies in
Bangladesh Tuesday alleging that Burmese troops have detained
some 20,000 Muslim villagers to work as army porters and to use
as human shields against the guerrillas.
         The allegation was made in a statement from the Rohingya
Solidarity Organization received in Dhaka.
         Almost 200 Burmese people took refuge in a Buddhist temple
in Mae Sai Monday but were told by Thai authorities to return to
Burma the next day, the temple's abbot told Reuters.
         An officer in Khun Sa's guerrilla army told Reuters many of
the seized people had been killed in recent heavy fighting.
         ``At least 17 porters were among 47 people killed on their
side over the last five days at Doi Kong Mon,'' Khwan Muang, a
regional commander in Khun Sa's said.
         Doi Kong Mon is about 13 miles west of Tachilek in the hills
of Shan State.
         Khwan Muang said 27 Burmese troops and porters were killed
in fighting Sunday and about 20 more died in a clash on Tuesday
morning.
         He said eight MTA soldiers were killed and 27 wounded in the
battles.
         The guerrilla commander said he expected fighting to
intensify and about 500 Burmese government reinforcements had
been moved into the area where the MTA had a similar strength.
         Khun Sa declared independence for a Shan state in December
and ordered his troops to begin an all-out offensive against
Burmese forces from the beginning of May, Kwan Muang said.
         ``We are convinced that now is the time to begin our war
against Burma. We have the strength to fight them and the Shan
people support us,'' he said.
         He said the MTA had 20,000 troops and was better equipped
than the government infantry.
         Khwan Muang said MTA guerrillas have launched offensives
against government positions in 13 different parts of