The Burmese Army imposed a curfew on the town of Loikaw in Karenni State over the weekend in a response suspected to be founded in at least two attacks by arenni fighters on military outposts near the town last month.

A source inside the state told Mizzima on Sunday that “people are not allowed to leave their houses from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and villagers face difficulties going out to work their paddy”.

Mizzima was unable to further corroborate the source’s assertion.

Internet cafes however were permitted to stay open until 8:30 p.m. Previously, the cafes remained open until 11 p.m, he said.

Phe Bu, director of the Karenni Social Welfare and Development Committee, an organisation that carries out humanitarian assistance to the internally displaced persons of the state said: “The curfew might be related to two reasons; the election is getting closer and the clash between the Karenni and Burmese troops on October 26 … no one knows how long the curfew will last.”

Villagers were afraid to go to their distant paddy because of the security concerns. “The Burmese troops are angry [about recent Karenni Army attacks] and could shoot the villagers,” the source added.

On October 26, a Karenni Army unit raided a 72 Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) outpost, located west of the Nam Pon River, about 8 miles (13 kilometres) east of Loikaw. During the attack, four Burmese Army soldiers were killed. The Karenni militants lost one fighter and three were injured.

A Karenni unit had also raided a 247th Infantry Battalion outpost on October 16.

The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the political wing of the Karenni Army, recently announced its stance against the State Peace and Development Council’s (the junta’s name for itself) 2008 constitution and the November 7 election. The group said the election was a sham and that it would be neither free nor fair.

The KNPP was set up in 1957 and is the only armed Karenni group that still fights the Burmese regime. The Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front and the Karenni National Defence Army had joined the junta’s Border Guard Force under Burmese Army command.

Meanwhile, the KNPP had allied itself with ethnic armed opposition groups such as the Shan State Army-South and the Karen National Union, both of which are fighting for various levels of autonomy. The ethnic armed groups hold strong bases along the Thai-Burmese border, Mizzima reported on October 29.