Shan troops cross border to abduct (r)

[dawnstar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Re: Shan troops cross border to abduct nine from Mae Hong Son

Anyone care explain what is going on here, this drug cleaning operation
by Shan element? Wierd.



> 
>        THE NATION - October 30, 1999
> 
>        Local & Politics
> 
>        Shan troops cross border to abduct
>        nine from Mae Hong Son
> 
>        AN ethnic group in armed conflict
>        with the Rangoon junta has abducted
>        nine hilltribe people in Mae Hong Son
>        province, saying one of the captured
>        men is a mutineer dealing in drugs,
>        Thai authorities said.
> 
>        Some 15 to 20 armed men belonging to
>        The Shan State Army crossed the
>        border from Burma on Thursday night
>        to abduct nine people, including a
>        one-year-old girl from Ban Maihung,
>        three kilometres from Pan Ma Pa
>        District, according to Governor Poj
>        Uthana.
> 
>        He said the group had captured Maung
>        Too and three of his comrades before
>        taking five others with them.
> 
>        The armed men forced Ja Tao, a
>        villager, to drive them to the border
>        before disappearing into Burma, said
>        Don Pramudwinai, the Foreign Ministry
>        spokesman.
> 
>        Don said the incident was unrelated
>        to the recent arrest of 22 Thai
>        gamblers opposite Ranong province.
> 
>        The Shan State Army claimed
>        responsibility for the incident.
>        Yesterday the third Army Region
>        deployed troops to arrest the
>        intruders, but no traces were found.
> 
>        Thai military officials said they
>        were seeking the release of any Thai
>        nationals. At least some of the
>        captives were believed to be Shans
>        without formal Thai residency.
> 
>        The objective of the abduction was
>        unclear, the governor said, adding
>        that a group of Thai police was
>        following the armed group.
> 
>        The Shan State Army, which has vowed
>        to oppose drug trafficking along the
>        border, said in a statement yesterday
>        that one of the captured men was a
>        mutineer dealing in drugs.
> 
>        Yod Surk, who leads 4,500 Shan State
>        Army troops, has said the Shan State
>        Army has adopted an anti-drug policy
>        and its movement is no longer merely
>        fighting for independence from Burma.
> 
>        Maung Thu, the alleged narcotics
>        trafficker, will be punished in
>        accordance with Shan State Army
>        regulations, and the others will be
>        released as soon as the army
>        determines they are not involved in
>        drug trafficking, he said.
> 
>        The Shan State Army was formerly run
>        by drug lord Khun Sa, who has
>        surrendered to the Rangoon military
>        junta. Yod Surk is a former aide to
>        Khun Sa.
> 
>        At a monthly briefing for journalists
>        yesterday, the Thai army said troops
>        were combing four provinces along the
>        rugged border with Burma for five
>        student exiles who stormed the
>        Burmese Embassy in Bangkok a month
>        ago, driving relations between the
>        countries to their lowest level in
>        years.
> 
>        The four provinces are home to tens
>        of thousands of refugees from Burma
>        who have fled the military regime's
>        attempts to crush resistance to its
>        rule.
> 
>        ''The army task force, with
>        cooperation from the Border Patrol
>        Police and special border armed
>        forces, have joined the search,''
>        said spokesman Col Pairoj Thogma-eng.
>        ''If arrested, the five men will be
>        sent to face criminal charges in
>        Thailand.''
> 
>        Pairoj stressed, however, that the
>        military believed the five were on
>        the Burmese side of the border,
>        probably receiving assistance from
>        ethnic or student rebels opposed to
>        the regime.
> 
>        The Nation, Agencies