Burma Army attacks and robs villagers in Muse Township
The Burma Army reportedly shot and robbed local people on
Tuesday evening in a village seven miles from the Burma-China border gate in Muse
Township, northern Shan State, according to local witnesses.
Using artillery, the Burma Battalion No. 99 from Pang Zai
opened fire on Wan Kong Weng village in Maw Tong sub-township at about 5 p.m.
on Tuesday, allegedly claiming that they were searching for Ta’ang National
Liberation Army (TNLA) forces.
Witnesses reported that soldiers first fired into the
surrounding forest and then began targeting residences. Over 10 houses were
damaged or destroyed in the attack, but only one person was reported injured,
as most residents were away for work.
“It was fortunate that no one was in the houses,” said a
Kong Weng resident who witnessed the incident. “Now the house owners are very
afraid to stay.” He added that some have left the area to instead stay with
relatives elsewhere in Muse Township.
The same source added that a local woman, Nang Thi Thi
Kyaing, who was driving by at the time of the attack, endured a gunshot to her
right leg.
After the artillery fire, witnesses reported that Burma Army
soldiers entered the village and looted local houses.
One local man, age 60, was at home when the troops came into
his house. A soldier allegedly hit him with a gun and then took his savings
from the residence: 50,500 Chinese yuan and 1.5 million kyats, an amount
equivalent to almost $10,000.
Another household reportedly lost 1 million kyats worth of
property and goods in the attack, or $800.
It has been reported that there was another clash at noon on
the same day between the Burma Army troops and the TNLA in nearby Ton Karng
village.
The TNLA Information Department also reported that there was
further fighting between the Burma Army Battalion No. 77 and the TNLA Army
Battalion No. 367 yesterday evening between Yae Pong and Marn Zawm villages, in
Mongmit Township, in northern Shan State.
The TNLA army is one of the six ethnic armed groups which
remain excluded from the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), the first formal
step in Burma’s peace process. The NCA is slated to be signed during the first
week of October.
By SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)
Tags: Human Rights, News
