Burma Army soldiers fired their weapons when sawmill workers refused their demands for logs and sawn wood in the Waw Lay area of Myawaddy Township, Karen State on 29 May.
A local villager who did not want to be named told KIC News on 31 May that at about 1.30pm on 29 May eight soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 62 (LIB-62) under Military Operations Command (MOC-19) led by Deputy Battalion Commander Maj Nyunt Win Hlaing demanded wood from villagers running a sawmill near Maw Khee Village. When the villagers refused an argument ensued and the soldiers fired their weapons.
He said: “At first, they asked for 10 tons of logs. They also asked for one ton of sawn wood. Ten tons [of logs] had already been given. The villagers have to think about the cost so they refused to give them more. Besides threatening to close down the sawmill, they also fired two shots.”
Residents of Maw Khee Village also claimed that soldiers from an LIB-62 military base that has been set up near to the village forced villagers to carry water from 27 to 29 May and also fired shots along the road where the villagers carry water.
Lieutenant-Colonel Saw Buu Phaw from Battalion 201 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which is active in the area, said: “It is true that shots were fired because the soldiers couldn’t get wood from the villagers. Also, it’s a common practice to order the villagers around. As for the issue of firing shots, I don’t want to say anything if they were shot in the area far from the village. This time, it happened near the village so the villagers were scared. This seems like they are threatening and provoking the villagers.”
The nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), signed between the Burmese Government and eight ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) on 15 October 2015, states that the Tatmadaw (Burma Army) and EAOs must not forcibly take money, property, food, labour or services from civilians.
According to KNLA soldiers from the local area, over 30 soldiers including Deputy Battalion Commander Nyunt Win Hlaing, Company Commander Tun Oo Lay, Company Commander Captain Phyo Win Lay, Captain Thant Zin Tun, Captain Aung Myint Tun, and Captain Lu Min Myat are stationed at the LIB-62’s military base which has been set up between Ka Ne Lay and Maw Khee villages in the Waw Lay area.
KIC News was unable to contact any Burma Army officials who would talk about these incidents.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
