DKBA Attacks KNU

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News

Further attacks against the rebel Karen National Union (KNU) by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) look likely to continue after a major clash that began on Saturday, according to Karen sources from both camps.

An armed clash between the KNU’s military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), and the breakaway Karen group DKBA broke out on Saturday in the KNLA’s Brigade 6 region in southern Karen State in Eastern Burma.

According to a source close to the DKBA, battalions 907 and 999 moved in against the KNLA Battalion 103 base. However, he said that the Burmese army did not participate in the operation alongside the DKBA troops.

The KNU’s newly elected Joint-Secretary 1 Hla Ngwe said that further attacks against the KNLA soldiers in Brigade 6 are expected as the DKBA has long coveted the region to control business and collect taxes along the Thai-Burmese border.

The area where the clash took place is rich in zinc mines, said the sources.

Hla Ngwe claimed that about six soldiers from a joint-Burmese/ DKBA force were seriously injured during the clash. However, the source close to the DKBA did not confirm any casualties.

Hla Ngwe said that a joint force of Burmese soldiers and DKBA troops have increased attacks around the border areas since late 2008.

Some observers said that the Burmese army and DKBA forces are intent on targeting in 2009 the KNU Brigade 6 region opposite Thailand’s Tak province, including the KNLA military bases in Kawkareik Township in southern Karen State.

A KNLA source said that the Burmese- DKBA troops were preparing to launch an assault mainly against KNLA battalions 201 and 103 in Kawkareik Township.

In late 2008, KNU’s tax department in Brigade 6 stated that the DKBA had plans to wrest control of Kawkareik from the KNLA, expecting to earn from agriculture, logging and mining in the area.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, the source close to the DKBA said, “This is our New Year’s present for the KNU.”