Junta captain shot in Mongton

Junta captain shot in Mongton

War

A company commander and a corporal were shot to death by gunmen believed to be members of Col Yawdserk's Shan State Army on Friday, 12 March, said sources from the border. 

Capt Aung Myint Htwe, Commander, Company 3, of Mongton-based Infantry Battalion 65, together with an unidentified corporal, were walking down a street in Mongton, a Shan township seat opposite Chiangmai, at 17:30, when they were cut down by the shots from two armed men in civilian clothes. Businessmen in Mongton said they believed the gunmen were the two who had been collecting "contributions" for the SSA. 

According to two deserters from IB 65, Pvt Win Ko, and Maung Toe, 17, Capt Aung Myint Htwe (Aung Win Htay for them) was Commander of Company 2, and not Commander of Company #3. 

The news was confirmed by a source in Mongton and a Thai of Shan descent who arrived in Chiangmai for the nationwide elections for Provincial Administration Organiztion (PAO) members and councillors held on Sunday, 14 March. The SSA commander Maj Ternkhurh of Brigade 727 that is active in the area, however, was unable to back up the report. "I returned from the field (to the border) after the 9 March ambush on the Mongton-Chiangdao (in Chiangmai Province) highway, and have been out of touch with the day-to-day affairs since," he told S.H.A.N. 

S.H.A.N. was unable to reach another Shan officer whose troops are also busy in the area, especially the eastern part of the highway, Lt-Col Awngkham of the Special Unit based at Loi Hsarmsip, opposite Chiangmai's Fang district. 

Other SSA commanders have dismissed an impending attack from Rangoon. "Apart from the Forward Command Post of the Monghsat-based Military Operations Command #14 (an equivalent of a division, commanded by Brig-Gen Htun Htun) at Maeken (a village south of Mongton), we see no signs of an offensive," Lt-Col Khurh-ngern, Commander of the SSA (Officially Yawdserk is Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State) commented. 

Villagers also reported that although MOC 14 had been there since 5 March, and civilians guides had been summoned to inquire about the approaches to Loi Hsarmsip Base, nothing further had followed. 

From Mongton to Pongpakhem, all villages are being visited by SSA patrols at will, they said. "We filed complaints with the Wa, because we knew it would be risky for us to talk about this to the Burmese authorities," said a source. "But The Wa officer we talked to replied to us he couldn't do anything. 'Even I am sometimes asked by them to treat them to a dinner, and I couldn't refuse,' he said."

Rangoon has, since November, began talks with several groups, including the Karen National Union, but the SSA has yet to receive any overtures. It has since December announced its readiness to talk with the country's military leaders without pre-conditions.