More guns and power to pro-junta militia

No.12 - 4/2007
28 April 2007
Politics
 
More guns and power to pro-junta militia
 
The Burma Army sponsored militia groups are getting more weapons and authority over local civilian populations, according to sources on the border.
 
On 24 April, a meeting was held in Nakawngmu, Mongton township, opposite Chiangmai, where the area commander conferred upon two of the militia commanders a number of assorted weapons and the authority to implement orders issued by the military:

• Tin Win, 32 automatic rifles, including 10 G3s and 22 Mzzs, and 1 RPG7 with authority over the sector stretching from Maeken to Monghang, roughly east of the Mongton-BP1 highway

• Pi Koy, 10 G3s and 1 M60 mortar, with authority over the sector stretching form Napayawng (Loi Khilek) to Zaktaw, roughly west of the Mongton-BP1 highway

 
Similar reports with fewer details are also received from Tachilek, opposite Chiangrai.
 
Since the fall of Gen Khin Nyunt under whom the ceasefire groups had been showered with special privileges, the rules are changing under Deputy Senior General Maung Aye, who favors the militia over the ceasefire groups. "(They) are merely enemies who have taken a break in the fighting against us," the present Mongton area commander's predecessor was quoted as saying in 2005.
 
Everything however is not plain sailing for the militia. The Panhsay militia, led by Kyaw Myint aka Li Yongqiang, had been disarmed in a 3-day operation, 22-24 April, by the Burma Army, reportedly under Chinese pressure. Kyaw Myint had been a prot้g้ of successive regional commanders including Tin Aung Myint Oo, Myint Hlaing and Aung Than Tut and was considered one of the untouchable druglords. "He had just received 50 assorted weapons earlier in the month," said a source.
 
Kyaw Myint is prominently highlighted in SHAN's latest report Hand in Glove: The Burma Army and the Drug Trade in Shan State.