Attack against Shans resumes

Attack against Shans resumes

Sources from the border reported this morning that explosions were heard beginning 08:00 in the direction of Pakhee, opposite Chiangmai Province. 

The attacking Burma Army forces began to shell Pakhee after their assault at 06:00 failed, they said. 
Shelling last night stopped at 22:00. Many were believed to be 81-mm mortar shells, but Thai army sources said shells fired from Pungpakhem in the west could be from 120 mm mortars. 

So far the Shans have an edge over the Burma Army due to the fact that the Pakhee range running from north to south is protected in the east and south by the Thai border. "In addition, the western slope is barren and any attack from that direction cannot be mounted without risking a lot of casualties. The Burmese hope is therefore only through the Honok entrance that is heavily defended by the Shans," one said. 

Burmese forces could not expect to attack from inside Thai territory either because apart from the lesson that Thais have learned from the Pangnoon Battle in Chiangrai Province two months earlier, the battlefield is so close to the royal development project in Doi Angkhang. "One cabbage damaged by a shell and our heads will roll," said a Thai officer. 

Reporting time 10:00.