RPG Attacks Claim Victims on Both Sides of Border
WAI MOE
Monday, November 8, 2010

MAE SOT—The sound of explosions connected with the fighting in Burma's border town of Myawaddy between the Burmese military and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) Brigade 5 was still being heard in the Thai border town of Mae Sot at 1 p.m. Monday.

According to sources in Myawaddy, two people were killed instantly during seven RPG attacks by DKBA troops. “One victim was Thein Han, about 40, and the other was about 25 years old,” said a Myawaddy police officer, adding that six other people were injured in the attacks.

The policeman said the Burmese authorities suspected the attacks came from Nga Pyaw Taw, the east part of Myawaddy, and that troop reinforcements could be expected Monday afternoon.

Another RPG attack injured three people in Thailand near the Friendship Bridge that links Myawaddy and Mae Sot.

“The three injured people are Karen migrant workers and they were sent to the Mae Sot Hospital,” said a Thai military official at the checkpoint. “We have learned the tension in Myawaddy is still bad.”

After another RPG landed on Thai soil and damaged a vehicle at the border check point, Thai security increased forces at the border and blocked the road to the area. Following the incident, the Mae Sot border market and surrounding area emptied and all of the shops closed.

DKBA Brigade 5, led by Col Saw Lah Pwe, split with the DKBA when the DKBA leaders agreed to join the junta's border guard force.

Fighting between Brigade 5 and junta troops began on Sunday morning, the day Burma held its first election in 20 years. Tension between Brigade 5 and Burmese government troops peaked on Sunday night, after DKBA forces laid siege to some key positions and were deployed around Myawaddy, and continued into Monday.

irrawaddy.org