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Villagers forced to compensate army for rations lost in raid by Karen rebels
Fri 06 Feb 2009,
Hong Hakao and Blai Mon
Residents of five villages near Three Pagodas Pass are being forced to compensate the Burmese army for rations lost in a raid by Karen rebels. According to local sources, the compensation being demanded is substantially higher than the value of the goods lost by the army.
In the last week of January, Tactical Commander Saw May Oo and soldiers from Military Operations Management Command (MOMC) No. 12 moved into five villages near where the rations had been seized. Most of the villagers fled in advance of the soldiers, however, leaving Commander Saw May Oo with no one from whom to demand compensation.
According to a villager who later spoke with a resident of Three Pagodas Town, Commander Saw May Oo then issued the villages an ultimatum: provide compensation for the lost rations within five days, or see the villages burnt to the ground. The ultimatum followed a January 19th raid by soldiers from Brigade 6 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), who seized hundreds of baskets of army rations from three trucks bound for Three Pagodas Pass Town.
The MOMC No. 12 Tactical Command, which is responsible for the rations, has neglected to report the loss of the rations to higher authorities at the Southeast Command in Moulmein. Rather than risk the punishment suffered by officers who have reported goods lost to KNLA raids in the past, the Tactical Command is relying on local residents to replace the supplies.
In addition to demanding payment from the civilian drivers who were forced to drive the supply trucks, the Tactical Command is demanding payment from five villages around the area where the rations were seized. The affected villages include They Yet Thein, Khayan Thein, Raw Khadaw, Thabyu and Asin villages. The five villages are also located near two antimony mines, and provide hundreds of workers for the mining company.
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