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the nation: Army on alert after Kar
- Subject: the nation: Army on alert after Kar
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 17:55:00
Politics
Army on alert after Karen
raid
The Army yesterday vowed to increase
troops along the tense frontier with Burma
following a raid by marauders who crossed
the border and torched a Karen refugee
camp.
The attack prompted a protest by the
Foreign Ministry but human rights groups
accused the Third Region Army of doing
nothing to prevent it.
Local officials said food, medicine and
water were being provided by humanitarian
groups as households began putting up
new huts at the 1,613-home Huay Ko Lok
refugee camp, which was more than 80 per
cent destroyed in the attack early on
Wednesday by Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army (DKBA) that killed two people,
wounded 33 and left nearly 9,000 without
shelter.
The Foreign Ministry's letter asked Burma's
military government to take suitable border
security measures and said Thai families
affected by the cross-border raids should
be compensated.
A US aid group and the Karen Refugee
Committee have slammed the Third Army
for alleged inaction during the Wednesday
attack despite having at least two hours'
warning.
The Burmese government in exile -- the
National Council of the Union of Burma
(NCUB) -- released a statement yesterday
calling the attack a ''serious violation of the
sovereignty of Thailand and a direct insult
to the Thai government and the Thai
people''.
It said it had written to Thai authorities to
condemn the inaction and called on
Bangkok to do more to protect the tens of
thousands of civilian refugees camped
along its western border.
Maj Gen Chamlong Phothong, chief-of-staff
of the Third Army that has responsibility for
the area, said the military would beef up
security along the border to keep an eye
out for future incursions.
Chamlong described the situation along the
border as tense, with constant rumours of
impending attacks on two other refugee
camps.
The general confirmed that the attack had
been launched by the DKBA, a splinter
faction of Gen Bo Mya's Karen National
Union allied with Burma's military
government, which has been at war with
Karen nationalists for decades.
Karen refugees living in Thailand have
been repeatedly threatened with violence in
an effort to get them to return to Burma.
The United States condemned the attack
on Wednesday and called on Rangoon to
halt the violence.
''We call on the government of Burma to
end its campaign of terror and violence
against ethnic minorities,'' said State
Department spokesman James Rubin.
The spokesman called on Burma to
engage in a dialogue with the ethnic groups
and with the National League for
Democracy to bring about national
reconciliation.
The statement came two days before
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai was to meet
US President Bill Clinton and Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright in Washington
during his official US visit.
The Nation, Agencies