The Kokang defectors loyal to the Bai faction were killed by Burmese soldiers in different areas in the frontlines around the rebel’s capital Laogai in the country’s Northeast Shan State, said sources close to Peng’s Kokang group.
The sources added that the Kokang defectors were shot dead by the Burmese soldiers after they ignored orders of Burmese military officers. The Kokang defectors were ordered to march in front of Burmese soldiers in the battle zones despite being reluctant to shoot their own comrades in arms of the same clan of the Peng faction.
The major clashes occurred between Peng’s fighters and the Burmese troops from August 27 to 29, where Peng’s fighters continuously resisted against the Burmese troops in the captured territories through hit and run tactics, said Kokang sources.
On August 24, the junta overran Kokang’s capital Laogai alleging weapons and drug smuggling in the capital. The junta also announced that the factional leader Bai Saoqian was the true leader of the Kokang ceasefire group called Myanmar Democratic Alliance Army (MDAA). Despite the alliance between the Kokang, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and United Wa State Army (UWSA) sources said most Kokang civilians and troops still feel Peng Jiasheng is their true leader.
Early this week after the fall of Laogai, several thousand Burmese troops have entered seven miles inside UWSA territories and are approaching the areas near the UWSA’s 318th Army Division, said local sources close to UWSA.
At the same time, hundreds of Burmese troops, several military tanks and heavy artillery and mortars have already been sent to Mongpyat (also called Mai Pyat), which is close to the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), said local Burmese military observers.
The NDAA-ESS leader Sai Leun, (63) is the son-in-law of the MDAA supreme leader Peng Jiasheng. He married the elder daughter of Peng.
Since early this week, over 6,000 civilians from UWSA and NDAA-ESS have fled to Chinese territories by crossing the border along the groups’ territories in fear of wars between the two groups, according to sources.
On the other hand, Burmese troops have been stationed near the 4th Brigade of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed-wing of the KIO based in Loikang, bordering the northern territory of Kokang, said KIA sources.
Similar to the current war between the Burmese troops and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the military branch of the Karen National Union (KNU) along the Thailand-Burma border, the Burmese soldiers are forcing local ethnic people to work as porters as well as being used as human shields against landmines, said sources near the frontlines in Kokang.
Kachin News
No comments:
Post a Comment