Wa reinforces border command

War

Wa reinforces border command

More than a thousand fresh troops from the Chinese border have recently arrived in the Wa strongholds along the Thai-Burma borer to pre-empt any likely order from Rangoon to return to their original homeland in the north, reports King Cobra from the Chiangmai border:

So far the arrivals are reported only in Mongton and Mongpiang townships:

Arrivals in the nearby Monghsat township, opposite Chiangrai province, however, are yet to be reported. "The total number, we heard, would be 4,000," said a Shan source close to the Wa. "One quarter of the newcomers are said to be ethnic Chinese."

The fighters, fully equipped, had marched all the way from Panghsang to the south, a distance of 150-250 miles.

The 171st Military Region that stretches from Tachilek to near the Kayah border, opposite Maehongson, Chiangmai and Chiangrai provinces, is woefully short of manpower. "It has over 20 battalions," said the informed source. "But each battalion barely manages 100 fighters."

The 171st is said to be under the command of Wei Hsuehkang, wanted both by the United States and Thailand on drug charges. Both Rangoon and Panghsang have publicly denied knowledge of his whereabouts.

His command has already been unofficially engaged a few clashes with the Burmese units since last month.

On 21 December, a Wa base in Namyoom, 5 miles north of the Chiangmai border, and its neighboring Burma Army base had gone on exchanging shellings for two and a half hours, 0530-0800, said truck drivers coming to the border. A non-commissioned officer later complained to a S.H.A.N. source that the Wa had started the fracas without provocation. "We suffered 13 dead," he said. "I was therefore taken aback when our commander ordered us to keep quiet about the whole affair."

The Wa had felt let down by the surprise removal of Gen Khin Nyunt, in whom they had placed considerable trust, according to a Thai border watcher in Maesai. "To make things worse, a pro-Wa Lahu militia force of Panghai (Mongpu-awn tract, Mongpiang township) commanded by I-shamuay (Samuel) was disarmed by a Burma Army unit on 16 November," he said. "The Wa naturally thought unless they were battle-ready at all times, they would suffer the same fate."

Regarding the Burma Army's seeming forbearance towards the recent clashes, Unsettling Moves: The Wa forced resettlement program in Eastern Shan State, a report by the Lahu National Development Organization, writes: Rangoon wants to occupy the region along the Chinese border. By dividing the Wa, it will make the task easier.