The Border Guard Force created by the Burmese military junta with much fanfare, has recently replaced the Burmese Army on the Laos-Burma border region...
The Border Guard Force created by the Burmese military junta with much fanfare, has recently replaced the Burmese Army on the Laos-Burma border region.
The BGF battalion 1009 of the La Hu people's militia group took over guarding the area, which was under the control of the Burmese Army’s LIB 571 and 572 based near the Mekong River on 28 August.
"The BGF battalion 1009 has travelled to the border area. They are headed for the Laos-Burma border. In the past, the area was monitored by the Light Infantry Battalion (571) and (572). These battalions are now going back to their headquarters. The La Hu militia has taken over border guard duties," sources said.
Maj. Kyaw Soe of the La Hu ethnic tribe is the battalion commander of BGF 1009 and Maj. Myint Thet Oo of the Burmese Army is the second commander of the battalion. There are about 200 soldiers in the BGF battalion.
Armed groups led by drug lord Naw Kham are active in the region. Small scale gun battles used to occur in this area. Replacing the army with the BGF in the area means the regime has allowed the BGF to run the drug trade, a Tarchilek local said.
"If they deploy the army battalion and if they get involved in the drug trade, they will be taken action against. So they have placed the (BGF) to avoid complications," he added.
Most of the drugs flow into Thailand and Laos annually from this region. Local authorities and the people's militia groups and drug traffickers have a nexus for a long time, U Sein Kyi, Deputy Editor of Shan Herald Agency for News, said.
The La Hu people's militia group derives benefits from drug trafficking but most of the benefits trickles to local junta authorities.
"The benefits will percolate to the local company commander, the battalion commander and then it flows to the strategic commander and onto the Triangle Military Command Commander. It is a windfall for them," he added.
The area is very close to the location of the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) also known as the Mongla ceasefire group. The Shan State Army – South (SSA-s) is also patrolling this area. This replacement is tailored to create conflict between ethnic groups, U Sein Kyi said.
The BGF 1009 battalion was formed with local people's militia in Phet Hei village, Mong Koo village group in Tarchilek district on 18 May 2010.
