Day: September 26, 2011

Wa top official Ta Pan remains in jail

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MONDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER 2011 16:29 HSENG KHIO FAH
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One of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) top ranking officials, Ta Pan, was not seen among group of 16 opium traffickers released recently by the government’s special amnesty, according to sources from the group.

 

Bao Youri and Bao Youxiang

“They were only his followers, not him. He is still required to serve his full term,” said a source. 

Ta Pan was Commander of Mongyawn-based 2518th Independent Regiment (new renamed 518th Brigade) and is an adopted son of Bao Youri, eldest brother of Bao Youxiang, the United Wa State Army’s supreme commander and leader.

He together with other 16 officers were arrested by the Burma Army in September 2005 in Mongpiang, 100 km west of Kengtung following a seizure of 496 kg of heroin.

They were sentenced to ten years in jail under the Narcotic Law Section 19 (A) by the district court in Kengtung, capital of Shan State East on 22 September, 2005, and transferred to Buthidaung Prison on the western Burmese border.

According to Narinjara report on 21 September, the government on 16 September released 16 opium traffickers who are the Wa ethnic nationalities from Buthidaung prison with the special relaxation on their lengthy jail terms.

“Their release can likely be related to the recent ceasefire agreement signed between the two sides [The UWSA and Government],” according to a border watcher.

The release came after the government and its group met on 6 September to sign a new ceasefire pact.

8 top leaders of the UWSA, including Chairman Bao Youxiang and Wei Hsuehkang have indicted by a New York Court in January 2005. shan news

War Update KIA 26.09.2011:

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26 September 2011
Kachin Independence Army (KIA) 4th Brigade units withdrew from their Talai and Tima frontline outposts in Kutkhai township following attack by the Burma Army with heavy weapons which began 24 September. So far the KIA has 6 killed and 3 wounded, while no less that 60 wounded on the Burma Army side were seen transferred to the hospitals. 2 houses damaged and 1 Palaung woman killed by Burma Army shellings. (SHAN)

Three KIO members shot at Lajayang Gate

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lajayang-engThree members of the KIO (Kachin Independence Organization) Civil Administration Department were shot today at the Burma Army-controlled Lajayang Gate, at 1 P.M. local time, witnesses said.
They were shot by Burmese soldiers when they tried to cross the gate on the Myitkyina-Manmaw Road.

The KIO personnel, including an officer, escaped arrest but one received an abdomen injury during the shooting, confirmed KIO officers.

First KIA military base in N. Shan State falls

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b9b-engThe first Kachin Independence Army (KIA) base in Northern Shan State fell under control of the Burma Army on Sunday, since the outbreak of civil war in early June, KIA officials said.
KIA brigade officers confirmed to the Kachin News Group the Daknai-based KIA Battalion 9, led by Major Mahkaw La Ring, under the Loikang-based Brigade 4, was captured during two days of fighting by troops of the Burma Army’s Magway-based Light Infantry Division (LID) No. 88 and the Meiktila-based LID No. 99.

Two KIA soldiers including a lieutenant were killed by a government mortar shell, said KIA officers.

Dozens of government soldiers were killed and nearly 100 were injured in the heavy fighting, according to KIA officers at the frontlines.

The KIA withdrew from the Daknai base because of non-stop 120 mm mortar shelling by government troops, said battalion officers.

Heavy fighting occurred Sunday between Burmese troops and Namtu-based KIA’s Battalion No. 8 near Namhai, in Mandung sub-township, said KIA officers.

Five KIA soldiers died and dozens of government troops were killed and injured, said sources from KIA Battalion 8. Finally, the government military column withdrew from the area, added a KIA officer.

The Burmese government launched the storm-offensive by over 1,000 troops against three KIA battalions— No. 2, No. 8 and No. 9, near the Brigade 4 command area in Northern Shan State, Saturday, Sept. 24.

KIA officers said the fighting will increase in Northern Shan State in the coming days after the fall of Battalion 9.

Currently, people in the war zone are fleeing to safe areas near the China border. At Mongkoe, across from China’s Manghai, Chinese soldiers and Border Guard Force troops are preventing Kachin and Shan IDPs from entering China. kng news

Rare Demonstration March in Burma -video-dozens to mark saffron revolution

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pics niknayman

About 400 security personnel disperse demonstrators in Rangoon

Monday, 26 September 2011 14:11 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A joint force of about 400 riot personnel and police on Monday dispersed about 200 protestors who tried to march from Dagon Myothit (East) to Sule Pagoda to mark the fourth anniversary of Burma’s “Saffron Revolution.”
The group was walking to Sule Pagod to conduct prayers when they were stopped in front of the Meteorology and Hydrology office near the Sartite bus top in Mayangon Township and told to return home.Mayangon Township Police Chief Khin Maung Soe told them to disperse or they could be punished under existing laws, an organizer, Wai Lu, told Mizzima.“They said that section 354 of the 2008 Constitution that says every citizen can assemble peacefully has not been approved by the Parliament, so we could be arrested under existing laws that say an assembly of more than five people is against the law,” Wai Lu said.Because of the order to disperse, the protestors broke up around 1:45 p.m., Win Cho, one of the protestors, told Mizzima.“They ordered us to divide into small groups of three people each and disperse. Our group was big so we are started to divide into small groups. We will obey the law exactly,” Win Cho said. Continue reading “Rare Demonstration March in Burma -video-dozens to mark saffron revolution” →

BURMA: Buddhist Monk in Arakan Put Under House Arrest

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Sittwe: A 29-year-old monk in Arakan has been put under house arrest by authorities for suspicion of leadingthe 4th anniversary of the Saffron Revolution protests in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State.

KatahyaU Kaythara laid the wreath in front of Ottama monument in Sittwe on 9 September 2011.

The monk, U Kaythara from Pathein Monastery in Sittwe, was forced on 23 September, 2011, by authorities to leave his monastery for a remote monastery in Rathidaung Township, 20 miles north of Sittwe, to be put under house arrest.

A colleague of U Kaythara in Sittwe told Narinjara over the phone yesterday that he is now in Alawdo Pyi Monastery in Kraydawra Pagoda in Rathidaung Township, where he has been put under house arrest.

The authorities and their forces detained and took away Ven. U Kaythara along with two other monks – Pynya Wan Tha and Pandita – around 2 pm on 23 September to a police station in Sittwe from Pathein Monastery.  Continue reading “BURMA: Buddhist Monk in Arakan Put Under House Arrest” →