Each woman was raped by about ten Burmese soldiers at the banana fields in Shadan Pa, between the Namsan Hka River and Munglai Hka River, west of Myitkyina-Manmaw (Bhamo) Road, sources close to the victims said.

One of the three women was unconscious for hours at the nearby public hospital in Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization, said hospital sources.

The gang-rape was committed by Burmese troops under the Mogaung (Mugang)-based Military Operation Command-3 (MOC-3), led by Brig-Gen Myat Kyaw, under Northern Regional Command (NRC), based in Myitkyina, according to locals and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) officials.

Under MOC-3, ten battalions are combined in the command--- Mogaung-based Infantry Battalion No. 74, Namti-based Light Infantry Battalions No. 381, 382 and 390, Kawa Yang (Mogaung)-based LIB No. 383 and 384, Nammar-based LIB 385 and 386, Mali Zup (Hopin)-based LIB No. 388 and 389.

The troops from all the battalions have been deployed to the banana plantation since September, to seize the KIA strongholds near the China border.

There are over 30,000 acres of banana fields in Shadan Pa and the land has been rented from the KIO since 2008 by Chinese businessman, Lau Ying, of Yunnan province, southwest China.

It became a war zone when the Burmese government broke its 17-year ceasefire and started a large-scale offensive against the KIA on June 9th.

There are over 20,000 Chinese and Burmese workers on the plantation and the KIA told all workers to return to their homes several times since the fighting started, KIA officials in Laiza said.

The KIA’s last warning to plantation workers was issued on September 15th. However, some workers have remained, added KIA officials.

According to the recently released report of the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT) entitled, “Burma’s Covered Up War: Atrocities Against the Kachin People”, 37 girls and women have been raped by Burmese soldiers in the past four months and 13 of them were killed.