KNLA takes responsibility for attack on dam
Posted on April 29, 2010
Filed Under Burma news, Karen news | Comments Off
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) says it was behind a grenade attack on Tuesday on the construction site of a dam in eastern Burma that injured four civilian workers.
The Democratic Voice of Burma reports a KNLA elite unit carried out the attack on the Thaukyegat dam in Karenni State because the increased military presence near the site was making life harder for local villagers.
The army has been looking to secure large areas of land for the project. Saw Mae Ae Sein, commander of KNLA Brigade 2 said, “There are concerns for the local’s survival; locals have been facing threats of shootings, oppression, forced labour, torture and forced relocation.”
He said the fight lasted about an hour, with no KNLA casualties, although he admitted there were some on the government side, and some damage to their buildings.
He said that the KNLA had not intended to injure civilians, “but militarily, it was unavoidable as they were at the site working for the government. Besides, it was likely that they were just people handpicked by the government to work at the site.”
The dam is expected to affect 30 villages and nearly 100,000 people.
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