Pro-junta troops defect to KNU
Posted on July 15, 2009
Filed Under Burma news, Karen news | Comments Off
Around 70 members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen Peace Force, another Karen ceasefire group have defected to the Karen National Union (KNU) in recent weeks reports the Democratic Voice of Burma.
The defections came during last month’s offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA) 7th Brigade.
The Burmese Army led the offensive with support from the DKBA. Over 3,000 Karen villagers were forced to flee over the border into Thailand to escape the fighting and to avoid being conscripted as porters by the DKBA.
DVB quotes KNU joint secretary Saw Hla Ngwe as saying the men had joined the KNU’s 6th Brigade. He added that the DKBA’s Saw Er Wah had led the defectors. He came on July 7 with 12 people, 16 guns and two radios. 55 more people, who brought weapons and ammunition, joined them in the coming days.
The junta has ordered ethnic ceasefire groups to reorganise into border guards, under the control of the government.
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