Karen/SLORC Battle News

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

BATTLE NEWS

1.5.97

(KNLA NO.(5)Bri, Mu Traw District Area) KNLA troops attacked SLORC
troops at
Yo Po Hse Law. Casualties are unknown. At the same day, SLORC troops
stepped
on four KNLA mines at Lay Plaw Kho. Four SLORC soldiers lost their legs.

(KNLA No.(3)Bri. K'ler Lwe Hto district, Ler Doh township Area) KNLA
troops
attacked SLORC troops at Ler Wah. Casualties are unknown.

2.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri. Mu Traw District Area) A clash broke out between the
KNLA
troops and LIB(34) at a position between Baw Lay Der and Ta Ker Der. One
SLORC soldiers was killed.

(KNLA No.(3)Bri. K'ler Lwe Hto Dsitrict, Moo twonship Area)A battle
broke out
between the KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Baw Kay village. SLORC
casualties
are unknown. KNLA troops suffered one dead. Two villagers were died.

5.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw District Area) A SLORC bulldozer hit a KNLA
mine at
Klo Pae Hta. One SLORC soldier was injured.
                              At 1030 hours, KNLA troops attacked SLORC
troops at Blaw Kho.
                             At 1230 hours, KNLA troops attacked SLORC
troops
at Ler Mu Kaw Hte. One SLORC soldiers was killed, two SLORC soldiers
were
injured. KNLA suffered one dead. At the same day, KNLA troops attacked
SLORC
troops at Htee Hse Plaw, the battle lasted (30)minutes. One SLORC
soldier was
killed, two SLORC soldiers were injured.
                            KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at Htee
Hse
Hta. SLORC casualties are unknown. At the same day, LIR (349) stepped on
two
KNLA mines at Hpo Htee Koe. Two SLORC soldiers lost their legs.

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Hsaw Hte township Area) KNLA
troops
attacked SLORC troops at Toe Hta. Three SLORC soldiers were killed and a
porter was died.

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Ler Doh township Area) SLORC
troops
stepped on a KNLA mine at Htee Blay Hta. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

6.5.97

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district Hsaw Hte township Area) A battle
broke out between the KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Saw Thae Hta. Two
SLORC
soldiers were killed.

7.5.97

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo District) A clash broke out between the KNLA
troops
and SLORC troops at Hse Day Area.

8.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) LIR (349) stepped on a KNLA mine at
Maw
Kyo. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

9.5.97

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Hsaw Hte township) SLORC troops
stepped on a KNLA mine at Mae Kler Day. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) At 1400 hours, a SLORC truck hit a
KNLA
mine at Pway Hse Khee. A SLORC truck was destroyed.

10.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) A clash broke out between the KNLA
troops
and LIR(440) at Htee Hse Plaw. Casualties are unknown.

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'er Lwe Hto district, Hsaw Hte township) SLORC troops
stepped on a KNLA mine at Thee Mu Paw Lu. One SLORC soldier lost his leg
and
one SLORC soldier was injured.

11.5.97

(KNLA NO.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) A battle broke out between the KNLA
troops
and SLORC troops at That Baw village. Casualties are unknown. At the
same
day, KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at Htee Hse Plaw. One SLORC
soldier
was injured. 

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Hsaw Hte township) SLORC troops
stepped on a KNLA mine at Mae Tha Na. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

12.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) A clash broke out between the KNLA
troops
and SLORC troops at Thay Baw area. At the same day, KNLA troops attacked
LIB
57/59 at Ler Mu Plaw. Two SLORC soldiers were killed.

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Hsaw Hte township) A battle
broke
out between the KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Hsaw Oh Khee. One SLORC
soldier was killed and one SLORC soldier was injured.

13.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) KNLA troops attacked LIB 57/59 at
Htee Hse
Hta. Two SLORC soldiers were injured. At the same day, a battle broke
out
between the KNLA troops and LIB (347) at Lay Ghaw area. Casualties are
unknown.

(KNLA No.(1)Bri, Thaton district) At 1900 hours, a battle broke out
between
the KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Ler Klaw village. Casualties are
unknown.

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Ler Doh township) At 0830
hours,
KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at Kay Lo Der. One SLORC soldier was
injured.

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) SLORC troops stepped o a KNLA mine at
Hse
Day area. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

14.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) LIB (48) stepped on a KNLA mine at
Klo Pae
Hta. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

(KNLA No.(1)Bri, Thaton district) At 1630 hours, a battle broke out
between
the KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Htaw Pwar Lo Khee. One SLORC soldier
was
killed and two SLORC soldier were injured. KNLA troops suffered one dead
and
lost one M-16.

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) KNLA troops ambushed SLORC troops at
Kaw
Thaw Thi. Casualties are unknown. At the same day, KNLA troops attacked
SLORC
troops at Po Htee Koe village. Casualties are unknown.

15.5.97

(KNLA No.(1)Bri, Thaton district) LIR (230) stepped on three KNLA mines
at
Htee Nyar Lu K'ser. Two SLORC soldiers lost their legs.

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) SLORC troops stepped on a KNLA mine
at Hse
Day area. One SLORC Captain lost his leg.

16.5.97

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Hsaw Hte township) A clash
broke out
betweeen KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Nyar Mu Kwee. Two SLORC
soldiers
were injured.

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) SLORC troops stepped on a KNLA mine
at Per
Mu Plaw. One SLORC soldier was killed.

17.5.97

(KNLA No.(1)Bri, Thaton district) LIB(51) stepped on a KNLA mine at Ta
Au
Khee. One SLORC soldier was killed and two SLORC soldiers were injured.

18.5.97

(KNLA No.(3)Bri, K'ler Lwe Hto district, Hsaw Hte township) SLORC troops
stepped on a KNLA mine at Mae Roo Khee. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

19.5.97

(KNLA No.(7)Bri, Paan district) At 0700 hours, a SLORC truck hit a mine
at a
position between Htee Ghaw Htaw and Wan Kah and When they cleaning the
area,
they stepped on three KNLA mines. Three SLORC soldiers lost their legs.

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) Three clashes broke out between the
KNLA
troops and SLORC troops at Ta Kaw Kyo, Ner Ghaw Day and Htee Thaw Tu
Kyo.

20.5.97

(KNLA No.(7)Bri, Paan district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at a
position between Htee Wah Blaw and Htee Law Thee. The battle lasted
(1)hour
and (30)minutes. Eight SLORC soldiers were killed and three SLORC
soldiers
were injured.

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) SLORC troops stepped on a KNLA mine
at Hse
Day area. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

(KNLA No.(4)Bri, Merguie/Tavoy district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC
troops at
Kar Mar. KNLA troops captured  one G-3 with (20) rounds ammo, one
carbine
with (180)rounds ammo, one .45 with (30)rounds ammo.

22.5.97

(KNLA No.(4)Bri, Merguie/Tavoy district) LIR (342) stepped on two KNLA
mines
at Mu Ka Ra. Two SLORC soldiers lost their legs.

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC convoy at
a
position between Than Taung Way Thaw (13 miles) and Than Taung Way Law
Li.
Six SLORC soldiers were killed and (15) were injured. 

24.5.97

(KNLA No.(6)Bri, Doo Playa district) A SLORC truck hia a KNLA mine at Ta
Ru
Paw. Six SLORC soldiers were killed and six SLORC soldiers were injured.

25.5.97

(KNLA No.(5)Bri, Mu Traw district) Three clashes broke out between the
KNLA
troops and SLORC troops at Htee Hse Hta and Lo Taw De. Two SLORC
soldiers
were killed and six SLORC soldiers were injured. At the same time, KNLA
troops attacked SLORC troops at Ler Wah Kyo. Two SLORC soldiers were
injured.
                              SLORC troops stepped on  four KNLA mines
at Lay
Ther Kho area. Four SLORC soldiers lost their legs. At the same day,
SLORC
troops stepped on a KNLA mine at Po Htee Koe. One SLORC soldier lost his
leg.


(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) At 0645 hours, KNLA troops attacked
SLORC
troops at Naw That Der. One SLORC soldier was killed and three SLORC
soldiers
were injured.
                         KNLA troops seized a Lieutenant Aung Aung (From
LIB(35) at Kaw That Der.

26.5.97

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at
a
position between the Than Taung Way Thaw (13 miles) and Ohn Chit Kone
(18
miles). Three SLORC soldiers were injured.
                            At 1700 hours, KNLA troops attacked SLORC
troops
at a position between Pae Kaw Der and Kaw Hoe Der. One SLORC soldier was
killed and one SLORC soldier was injured.

27.5.97

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) At 1600 hours, KNLA troops attacked
SLORC
troops at Koe Haw Der. One SLORC soldier was killed. At 2000 hours, KNLA
troops attacked SLORC troops at Hsar Lu Blaw Day. One SLORC soldier was
killed and one SLORC soldier was injured.

(KNLA No.(4)Bri, Merguie/Tavoy district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC
troops at
Min Htaik Khee. Three SLORC soldiers were injured.

(KNLA No.(1)Bri, Thaton district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at
Noh
Kher. Casualties are unknown.

28.5.97

(KNLA No.2)Bri, Taungoo district) Three clashes broke out between the
KNLA
troops and SLORC troops at Sho Kho area. Two SLORC soldiers were killed
and
Three SLORC soldiers were injured.

29.5.97

(KNLA No.(1)Bri, Thaton district) At 1700 hours, KNLA troops attacked
LIB(29)
with claymore at a position between Kyo Waing and Pa Ya Yaw. Three SLORC
soldiers were killed and three SLORC soldiers were injured. Including
one
lieutenant was injured.

(KNLA No.(4)Bri, Merguie/Tavoy district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC
troops at
Ler Pha Doh village. Three SLORC soldiers were killed. KNLA suffered one
dead.

 30.5.97

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) At 1000 housr, a clash broke out
between
KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Thu Kho K'ser Tu. At 1500 housr, a
battle
broke 
out again at Thu Kho. Two SLORC soldiers were killed and two SLORC
soldiers
were 
injured. 

31.5.97

(KNLA No.(4)Bri, Merguie/Tavoy district) At 1145 housr, KNLA troops
attacked 
SLORC troops at Wee Hto Ree. 
                             At 1000 hours, a clash broke out between
the
KNLA troops and SLORC troops at Yae Hsay. One SLORC soldier was injured.

(KNLA No.(1)Bri, Thaton district) KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at a
position between the Htee Pha Doh Hta and Kyo Waing. One SLORC soldier
was
killed and one SLORC soldier was injured.

(KNLA No.(2)Bri, Taungoo district) At 0900 hours, KNLA troops attacked
SLORC 
troops at a position between Kaw Thay Der and Klay Saw Khee. Casualties
are
unknown.

KNU Information Center

KNLA = Karen National Liberation Army
SLORC = State Law and Order Restoration Council
LIB = Light Infantry Battalion 
LIR = Light Infantry Regiment
 OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEAD QUARTERS
                               KAREN NATIONAL UNION
                                     KAW THOO LEI


                                        KNU Press Release No.25/97
             Regarding 1997 SLORC Offensive Against the KNU

                                                                             
  June 3,1997

 
         By military offensive, the SLORC has been destroying Karen
villages
and, in east of Shwe Gyin township, the SLORC is continuing its work of
destruction as given below-
          The SLORC troops burnt down:

In Sor-theh-kee village tract, 49 houses, making 494 persons homeless;
in
Ler-wah village tract 50 houses, making 304 persons homeless, in
Su-mu-ta
village tract, 25 houses, making 104 persons homeless; in Ko-phet
village
tract, 40 houses, making 131 persons homeless; in Tee-ba-lar village
tract,
63 houses, making 267 persons homeless; in Meh-reh-kee village tract, 93
houses, making 438 persons homeless; Eighty families from Meh-reh-kee
and
Klor-ko-ger villages, and 32 families from Tee-ba-lar village tract were
driven down to the plain areas.

             From 12 to 21 May, 1997, troops from SLORC IBs 57, 59 and
37
combined together and continued the work of destruction in northern
Pa-pun
district as given below.
             
             In Ler-mu-plaw village, the SLORC troops burnt down 55
houses,
83 farm huts, 55 rice barns and killed a large number of live-stock. The
SLORC IB 548 looted 10 baskets of rice and 10,000 kyats from
Tee-law-theet-ta, 25,000 kyats from Tee-theh-lay village and 2 buffaloes
from
Tee-tha-blu-ta village. In Baw-kyo-traw village area, villagers have to
pay
1,000 kyats per family as porter fees.

              On 11-5-97, a DKBA commander, Saw Hla Dah, came to Par-klu
village of Myawady township and forcibly collected 3,000 kyats per
family as
recruitment fees.Village elders Par Jer Po and two others were beaten
severely as Lo-Baw and Do-thu-kee villages were late in paying the fees.
The
villagers had to pay an additional 400 kyats to DKBA Saw Mya Aung, as a
fee
for the work of beating. The three village elders were released on
18-8-97
and elder Par Jer Po could hardly walk because of the beating. 

Abbreaviations: KNU = Karen National Union (Political wing of the Karen
resistance), SLORC = State Law and Order restoration Council (Military
dictatorship of Burma), DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (A pappet
army
of the SLORC), Kyat is the name of Burmese currency, Shwe Gyin is a town
about 90 miles 
to the east of the Burmese Capital, Rangoon, Myawady is town in the
Karen
State opposite Tak province of Thailand.

KNU Information Center
OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADAUARTERS
                        KAREN NATIONAL UNION
                             KAW THOO LEI


     Response from the KNU and KNU News, Information and
Research         
                                        Department
                                              to 
             "The View from the Embassy of Myanmar in Ottawa"

     

         With reference to "The View from the Embassy of Myanmar in
Ottawa"
dated May 29,1997, the Karen National Union, the political wing of Karen
resistance in Burma, and its News, Information and Research Department
have
to say that the "View" is a standard propaganda that has been used by
the
racist chauvinist military regime in Rangoon, the so-called State Law
and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC). 
             In a brief response to this, we would like to begin by
saying
that like all the propaganda of the SLORC and the racist chauvinist
regime
before it, the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) regime, it is a
mixture
of a few facts with a great deal of fiction and misleading half truths.
             The reality is that the Karen population outside of the
present
Karen State, which was created in 1945, is not less than 6 million. The
majority of them live in Inter-mingled patterns with other peoples, such
as
Baik-tha, Ta-weh-tha, Mon, Burman, Karenni and Shan, in the Tanessarim
Division, Irrawaddy Division, Pegu Division, the Mon State, Karenni Land
(Kayah State) and the Shan state. The Karen population in the Karen
State
itself is barely a million. A large section of the Karen people aspires
to
nationhood.
             The Karen in the Irrawaddy and Pegu Division were brutally
subjugated by the BSPP regime, with military operations from 1964 to
1975, in
a similar manner as the ongoing offensive against the KNU and the Kaen
civilians. However Karen as people, have never lost their sense of
ethnic
identity, wherever they are, even though they have to live coweringly
under
the repressive rule of SLORC military regime. They look up to the KNU as
the
organization truly representative of their free will and aspirations.
                 The persecution the Karen and other ethnic
nationalities by
the militant section of the Burman dated far back to the days of Burman
feudalism. The British colonialists did not have to formulate any
divide-and-rule policy. They just maintained the ethinic divisions that
had
already been there because of persecutrion or misrule. In fact, the
British
incorporated the free territories of the ethnic peoples into their
British-Burma and placed them under a similar system of administration
and
created a semblance of one nation state out of their new possesssions.
The
initial Burma as the British found it at the time of their annexation in
1885, was a little more than part of the Irrawaddy valley and Sittang
valley.
                       At the time of the country's independence from
Britain
in 1948, the political power passed into the hands of the ethnic Burman
majority. Had not Gen. Aung San, an ethnic Burman and regarded as the
father
of Burma's independence, who had a deep insight of the ethnic problems
and
with a strong attitude of compromise and flexibility with regard to the
questions of non-Burman ethnic nationalities, been assassinated , the
situation could have been completely different. U Nu who inherited
power, was
weak-willed and a little more than a figurehead. The actual power soon
passed
into the hands of arch racist chauvinists and militants like Gen. Ne Win
and
his cohorts. Using the Burma Army as his power base, Gen. Ne Win seized
power
in 1962. His policy towards the non-Burman nationalities was simple and
clear. It was forced assimilation through total subjugation and
annihilation,
to set up the 4th Burman Empire. 
                        The problem of racist chauvinists is their blind
faith in the Burman history written by court historians who described
the
power and grandeur of Burman kings in glowing terms. The propaganda
churned
out during the anti-colonialist period further enhanced the feeling of
racial
superiority of the Burman patriots with limited education or insight.
                     Karen rebellion started in January 1949, in
self-defence
and in reaction to attacks from the pocket army of Gen. Ne Win, known as
Burma Territorial Force, on Karen villages and populations in
Tanessarim, the
Irrawaddy delta and Insein town.
                     The Karen had legitimate fear of total annihilation
or
wholesale subjubation and enslavement as a result of horrible experience
of
atrocities at the hands of the Burma Independence Army. There was not a
word
of compromise either from U Nu or other Burman leaders at peace
negotiations.
Negotiations broke down because of the insistence on total surrender by
the
other side. The Karen sees it as the hungry tiger asking the deer to
shed its
antlers for peace. The 
SLORC military junta has nothing different to offer. On the other hand,
it is
more savage, ignorant and more deeply influenced by terrorism,
militarism and
what we called racial chauvinism.
                       The KNU knows that the majority of Burman is
peace
loving, tolerant and humane. That is why it has no problem cooperating
with
the pro-democracy forces, which are overwhelmingly Burman, ethnically
speaking. The KNU advocates genuine federalism and democracy, with multi
ethnicity similar to that of the Swiss federation, rather than
irrational
fear, war, subjugation and separatism. The Karen resistance has an armed
wing
organized out of the Karen civilians specifically for self-defense
against
the SLORC's troops, which have been raining death and destruction upon
the
innocent Karen, indiscriminately. The Karen are being widely persecuted
by
the SLORC on political, ethnic and, in some cases, on religious grounds
and,
as a result, they have to bear the atrocities and oppression more than
the
other grups opposing the SLORC. The armed resistance of the Karen people
is
not to gain political power or to retain it. That is why the KNU regards
the
SLORC's demand on it to renounce the "armed revolutionary program" as
irrelevant and even ludicrous.
                        The cease-fire agreements the SLORC has reached
with
the16 groups, being a trick, are tenuous and will have nolasting effect
on
peace. Of the 15, only the KIO and the Mon  can be said of having some
political and ethnic orientation. The rest, except the Wa, are small in
size
and with hardly any political conviction. They are groups that have been
in
opium culture and trade together with the BSPP, previously, and the
SLORC, at
the present. It is said that the KIO agreed to the cease-fire under the
Chinese pressure and guarantee, and it has never accepted the legal-fold
condition. The trick of the SLORC is to reach cease-fire agreements with
as
many groups quickly so as to crush the KNU with its overwhelming
military
might and then crush the other smaller groups one by one, subsequently.
                          The so-called "national convention" touted by
the
SLORC is a sham body stacked with SLORC's handpicked delegates. It is
said
that 80% of the delegates of the convention are from the pro-SLORC
organizations or groups under the total control of the SLORC. Judging by
the
principles for the "future state constitution" it has laid down, there
is not
a whit of doubt that the convention is a device strictly controlled by
SLORC
for the perpetuation of military dictatorship.
                           The SLORC propaganda would have us believe
that
the civil war and the social instability in the country are a family
problem.
The death of probably more than a million Karen caused directly by the
civil
war, in nearly half a century of resistance, the shooting to death of
thousands of demonstrators in pro-democracy movements since Gen. Ne Win
seized power in 1962, the flight of thousands of refugees into
Bengladesh and
Thailand on account of persecution, the exodus of thousands working as
illegal immigrants because of extortion and slave labor by the SLORC
troops,
the severe oppression of legitimate political parties and etc. have
caused a
serious concern for the International Community.
                         It is true that the civil war in Burma has
greatly
stifled the economic development of the country. The successive regimes,
since the time of independence, has to allocate an ever larger amount of
the
state budget for terrorizing and the killing of innocent civilians, the
destruction of villages and the livelihood of the villagers. The SLORC
is
said to be spending more than 60% of the country's budget on its war
effort
and its effort to keep the civil population under control.
                           The contry is now in such a state that
billions of
dollars and at least one or two decades of hard labor would be necessary
ofr
the rehabilitation and development of the country so as to make it reach
the
stage where it can stant on its own two feet. By coddling with and being
subservient to militant China, the SLORC has dangerously disturbed the
traditional balance of power in the region. 
                           That is why, the KNU has been carnestly
calling
for the resolution of the political problems, that has been the
underlying
causes of the civil war and instability in Burma, by political means. In
other words the KNU is 
convinced that it is urgently necessary to resolve the problems of the
country, by peaceful means through dialouge, for genuine and lasting
peace
with the participation of the three main groups, namely, the ethnic
nationalities, the pro-democracy forces and the SLORC. In the present
situation, there is no other means but this three-way or tripartite
dialogue,
as called for by the United Nations as well, which can realistically
find a
comprehensive and permanent solutions to the problems of the country.


KNU and KNU News, Information and Research Department.

June 7,1997.