The non-ceasefire Shan State Army (SSA) “South” has said a quarrel at a party thrown by a Burmese Army Column Commander on October 1, ended in a shootout among the guests in southern Shan State.

The 50-strong Column #2 from Mongnai-based Infantry Battalion 248, commanded by Maj Zaw Tun, was making a halt in Mongyai, Kehsi Township, when the shootout occurred, according to a local.

Five died and 10 were injured, including Zaw Tun. “The army afterwards said it was the SSA which did it,” he said.

“Our units were nowhere near it,” said Col Yawdserk. “The column was only trying to shift the blame on us,” he added.

The reason for the quarrel was reportedly the discussion, while drinking, on the ongoing army-led reconstruction of civilian houses, destroyed by the army during the ‘Scorched Earth’ campaign against the SSA, between July 27 and August 1. “One thing led to another and they ended up shooting each other,” according to the local, who has for years been one of SHAN’s main sources.

Another version claimed that the shooting took place in Pang Hpone, Laikha Township, near Mongyai of Kehsi Township. “The column was moved to Pang Hpone, where IB 9 was based, only after the incident,” the SHAN source explained.

The six-day ‘Scorched Earth Campaign’, also known as ‘Four Cuts,’ meaning cutting off food, funds and intelligence recruits by local villagers to the resistance, had destroyed more than 500 houses in 11 villages in Mongkeung, Laikha and Kehsi Townships, according to a report by the Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan Women’s Action Network. The army later said it was the SSA and not the army that had brought about the destruction.