KAREN BATTLE NEWS

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Battle News

21.5.97

(KNLA, No(5)Bri, Mu Traw district Area) SLORC troops stepped on a KNLA
mine
at Hga Kho. One SLORC soldier was killed.

25.5.97

(KNLA, No(7)Bri, Pa-an district Area) SLORC troops stepped on two KNLA
mines
at Klu Htaw. Two SLORC soldiers were killed and one SLORC soldier was
injured.

27.5.97

(KNLA, No(5)Bri, Mu Traw district Area) SLORC troops stepped on a KNLA
mine
at Oo Too Klo. One SLORC soldier lost his leg. At the same day SLORC
troops
stepped on two KNLA mines at Taw Plar Bler. Two SLORC soldiers lost
their
legs. At the same day SLORC troops stepped on two KNLA mines at Ta Ku
Der.
Two SLORC soldiers lost their legs.
                    KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at a position
between
the Ku Hsay and Mar Htaw. Casualties are unknown.

28.5.97

(KNLA, No(5) Bri, Mu Traw district Area) LIR (703) stepped on a KNLA
mine at
Ka Ru Kho. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

29.5.97

(KNLA, No(5) Bri, Mu Traw district Area) A clash broke out between the
KNLA
troops and LIR (59) at  Ta Ko Kwee Lu. Casualties are unknown. At the
same
day a battle broke out between the KNLA troops and LIR (707) at Hto Kaw
Lu.
Casualties are unknown. At 1215 hours, KNLA troops attacked LIR (708) at
Der
Kyu Kyo. Two SLORC soldiers were killed and one SLORC soldier was
injured. At
1500 hours, KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at Ta Par Lu. SLORC
casualties
are unknown.

(KNLA, No(3)Bri, No(8)BN, K'ler Lwee Hto district, Mone township Area)
At
0700 and 0730 hours, two clahshes broke out between the KNLA troops and
SLORC
troops at Htee Klu Day area. At the same time, SLORC troops stepped on a
KNLA
mine. One SLORC soldier lost his leg.

31.5.97

(KNLA,No(3)Bri, No(8)BN, K'ler Lwee Hto district, Mone township Area) At
1040
hours, KNLA troops attacked SLORC troops at Kaw Thay Der. Casualties are
unknown. At the same time SLORC troops stepped on two KNLA mines. Two
SLORC
soldiers lost their legs.
                         SLORC troops stepped on a KNLA mine at Thay Kar
Paw
Kwee. One SLORC soldier was injured. At the same time, KNLA troops
attacked
SLORC troops at Thay Kar Paw Kwee. At 1000 hours, a KNLA mine exploded
at Kaw
Hta. One SLORC soldier was killed.

KNU information Center.

KNLA = Karen National Liberation Army
SLORC = State Law and Order Restoration Council
LIR = Light infantry Regiment

Skirmishes in May

                         From 1.5.97 to 31.5.97, (75) clahses were broke
out
between the KNLA troops and SLORC troops. (65) mines were exploded. (87)
SLORC soldiers were killed , (104) SLORC soldiers were injured and (44)
SLORC
soldiers lost their legs. KNLA suffered (4) dead.

KNU Information Center.
OFFICE OF THE SUPREME  HEADQUARTERS
                                        KAREN  NATIONAL  UNION
                                                  KAWTHOOLEI


                                     KNU  Press Release No. 30/97
               Regarding The 1997 SLORC Military Offensive agaist KNU


       The SLORC is continuing to rain destruction and atrocities upon
the
Karen people in rural areas. The troops participating in the process are
destroying villages, commiting murder, forcibly conscripting labor and
forcing the relocation of villagers in many areas.

On 10-6-97, a combined force of the SLORC troops and the DKBA, numbering
about 20, attempted to attack Plaw Par Doh, a village near Umpang,
Thailand. 
The group retreated without successs after firing a number of shots.

On 13-6-97, a military column from the SLORC IB 93 arrived at Klaw Ta
village
in Bilin township and shot at the villagers.  They wounded one villager,
Par
Tee Kreh, age 42.  The SLORC troops ransacked 42 houses and left with
looted
gold weighing about 180 grams.

On 16-6-97, a 200 man column from the SLORC LID 44 forcibly relocated
the
people from the villages starting from Dor Da Lay to Ga Mar Hseh village
in
the Tha Ton township.

On 16-6-97, the SLORC army units of IB 20, IB 26, IB 55, LIB 535 and
other
units which are conducting military operations in the Toungoo district,
burnt
down 26 houses and a school in Shoko village and 7 houses in Meh Ker Waw
village.  Troops from LIB 535 and IB 20 burnt down Maw De Doh, Boh Kler
Ber
and Bla Kee villages.  In addition, they seized villagers, including a
large
number of women and children.  They were forced to carry supplies and
ammunition to the front line camp of Ga Maw Doh.  On 17-6-97, IB 55
burnt
down Thay Ya Yu village.

On 17-6-97, the SLORC troops from LIB 12 and DKBA troops from Bo Chit
Thu
faction shot up the villages of Tee Wa Plaw and Tee Law Theet Kee of 
Hlaing
Bwe township, wounding four villagers seriously.

On 22-6-97, troops from the SLORC LIB 12 confiscated 3 pigs, 10 chickens
and
50 baskets of paddy from the villagers of Poo Way village in Hlaing Bwe
township.  Troops from SLORC IB 250 shot at a pregnant woman, Naw Toh Ko
of
Gaw Tha Wa village, severing her leg.  On the same day, the troops in a
shooting spree killed an unknown Pa-O woman from Kya Ga Lay village and
wounded Saw Way Too of Kler Doh village in the shoulder.  The troops
also
seized a woman named Naw Ya Ben with her one year old child.  A man
named
Aung Aung from Pine Kyon village, together with his four friends, were
subjected to torture by the SLORC troops before they were taken away. 
These
six villagers and child are still under detention.

Abbreviaitons:  
KNU = Karen National Union (the political wing of the Karen resistance)
SLORC = State Law and Order Resoration Council (the military junta of
Burma)
DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (a Karen Buddhist army organized
by the
SLORC)
LID = Light Infantry Division, LIB = Light Infantry Battalion, IB =
Infantry
Battalion