NEWS - FIGHTING INTENSIFIES IN NORT

[Rangoonp@xxxxxxx]

Subject: NEWS - FIGHTING INTENSIFIES IN NORTHEASTERN COMMAND ZONE

BURMA COURIER No. 192           July 25 - 31, 1999

SHAN STATES

FIGHTING INTENSIFIES IN NORTHEASTERN COMMAND ZONE

BurmaNews - BC:  July 30, 1999  (based on S.H.A.N., ABSDF, SHRF and NLM
reports)

LASHIO -- Reports from Nawngkhio and Hsipaw reaching the Shan Herald
this
week indicate that there are continuing encounters between SPDC troops
garrisoned in these townships and units of the expeditionary force of
the
Shan States Army - South (SSA-S) which penetrated the Northeastern
Command
Zone of Shan State in early June.

The SPDC garrison at Nawngkhio on Highway 3 between Maymyo and Kyaukme
was
under attack for two hours on the night of July 19th.  As a result,
customs
checkpoint and bridges along the highway have been under a dusk to dawn
curfew ever since.

A raid on the garrison at Namlan in Hspaw township between Kyaukme and
Lashio on July 20th is reported to have lasted for about 20 minutes. 
Both
attacks are believe to have been carried out by units of the 198th and
241st Brigades of the SSA - S with the aim of relieving the beleaguered
forces of the 758th Brigade under the command of Col Moenzuen. 
Moengzuen's
group has been in the area since early June but is under heavy pressure
from combined forces of several SPDC battalions in Mongyai and Tangyan
townships.

At Namlan villagers have been ordered to have porters ready to supply
local
junta units on a 48-hour standby basis.

Meanwhile, reports of civilian casualties of the campaign in Hsipaw
township are beginning to come in.   The Shan Human Rights Foundation
reports that two brothers  died as result of a beating they received at
the
hands of soldiers manning a checkpoint at the junction of the road from
Mongyai and Kae-see with Highway 3 on June 23rd.  A truck the brothers
were
driving, which was transporting machine part from Lashio to Hsengkeo,
had
failed to register at the checkpoint the previous day because no guard
was
present at the time.  When it returned on the 23rd, it was stopped near
the
checkpoint by troops of Light Infantry Battalion 522 of the Burmese
army.
The beating the two brothers were subjected to during an ensuing
interrogation was so severe that they died shortly afterwards.

Family members who registered a protest were told by an officer in
charge

that the troops had "accidentally overused their force" but that the
army
could not be responsible for the consequences.  A claim for compensation
has not been responded to.

Ceasefire troops from units of the nearby SSA - North and the Shan State
National Army with camps at nearby Hsengkeo and Khai-sim in the township
have been ordered to avoid all contact with the Moengzuen forces.  An
apparent attempt by Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo to enlist their
support against the penetration by the southern Shan force seems to have
failed.

There were reports this week this week that the junta's Gen Win Myint
was
seeking to enlist the support of the United Wa State Army in the fight
against the SSA - S which is under the overall command of Col Yordserk.
Official media reported that Win Myint and Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo
were in Pang-hsang this week for talks this week with Wa leaders.  It
was
unusual for the Northeastern commander to visit the Wa cease-fire area
which belongs in the Triangle Command Zone.

Under an agreement signed in 1997, the UWSA committed itself not to
engage
with forces opposing the military regime in Shan state.