Junta Troops Prepare for Battle against UWSA
By LAWI WENG
The Irrawaddy News
Junta troops and members of a private militia have joined forces in preparation for an attack against the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Shan State in northern Burma, according to UWSA sources.
The militia, called the Wanpang group, number about 500 soldiers in Tang Yan Township in eastern Shan State. Led by Bo Mon, it is a remnant of group formed by late drug lord Khun Sa.
“The militia has been ordered to obey the command of the government troops,” said Mai Aik Phone, who is close to the UWSA.
Saengjuen, a news editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said the military government plans to use the militia as a proxy army, in a way similar to its relationship with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which wages war against the Karen National Union (KNU).
The UWSA is the most powerful ethnic armed ceasefire group, and it has rejected the government’s offer to serve as a border guard force.
The government troops have been reinforced in UWSA-controlled areas in Shan State in recent months. Most UWSA troops are now on 24-hour alert.
According to Burma’s new constitution, all ceasefire groups must operate under the command of the military government.
Most ceasefire groups have reject the offer to serve under the command of the government army, and say they will maintain their current role as an army to protect their own people.
The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has proposed to transform its troops into the Kachin Regional Guard Force, but it has rejected the offer to serve as a border guard force. The junta has not responded to their proposal yet.
In July, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) also rejected the offer to serve as a border guard force.
Hongzar Bang Kyine, a NMSP spokesperson, said that the party will officially announce its rejection of the offer on Mon Revolution Day on Aug. 5.
The party’s leaders have been told by the junta’s regional commander to consider serving as a local militia, if they reject the border guard proposal.
Meanwhile, in recent operations along the Thai-Burmese border, combined forces of the government army and the DKBA attacked military units of the KNU. The DKBA has agreed to serve as a border guard force and has waged fierce battles with their fellow Karen in the past several months, claiming many lives and injured on both sides.
