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BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 16,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar launches probe into fatal border
blast: Thai police
AFP - Five killed, 27 injured in bomb blast on
Thai-Myanmar border
Reuters - Myanmar
refugees languish in Bangladesh camps
AP - Thailand Blast Kills Five
BBC - Seven dead in Thai-Burma border
blast
BBC - Inquiry into
Thai-Burma blast
Bkk Post - Drug war tactics to feature in
exercises
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday April 16, 4:27 PM
Myanmar launches probe into fatal border blast: Thai police (AFP) - Myanmar authorities
began investigating a blast which killed seven Myanmar citizens and wounded at
least 27 near a border checkpoint, a Thai army official said.
"They are questioning witnesses and relatives of the dead and injured
people to find the cause of the blast," said the official with the Third Army,
which patrols the northern border region.
The explosion occurred Monday afternoon on the Myanmar side of the
Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge which crosses into this border town.
The crossing was re-opened Tuesday, and scores of Thai military personnel
were patrolling the area, an immigration official told AFP.
Thai authorities said the bomb was fitted to a three-wheel bicycle cart,
used to carry passengers or produce, which was parked in the Myanmar township of
Myawadi, only 20 metres (yards) away from a military checkpoint.
Traffic across the bridge between Mae Sot and Myawadi was much heavier than
normal Monday due to festivities for the traditional Buddhist new year which
began in both countries on Saturday.
Thousands of people had flocked across the border into Mae Sot to visit a
funfair and to watch kick-boxing and football tournaments.
The area of town near the border crossing was the focus for the
celebrations, with hundreds of stalls set up along the road leading up to the
checkpoint.
While there was no official theory as to the cause of the bomb, a Thai
military source said Monday it could be linked to ethnic militias fighting in
the area.
The source said it could have been a revenge attack by the rebel Karen
National Union (KNU) after the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a rival
group allied with Myanmar's military government, which bombed a gas station in
Mae Sot district last week, injuring four people.
Thai and Western tourists also use the bridge to cross into Myanmar, many
traveling on day passes issued at the border.
Myanmar authorities made no immediate comment on the blast.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 15, 8:02 PM
Five killed, 27 injured in bomb blast on Thai-Myanmar border MAE SOT, Thailand, April 15 (AFP) - Five Myanmar citizens were killed and 27
injured in a bomb blast Monday at the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge that
crosses into this border town, immigration officials said.
Captain Paitoon Lakleua said the bomb was fitted to a three-wheel bicycle
cart, used to carry passengers or produce, which was parked on the Myanmar side
of the bridge.
The explosion occured around 5:00 pm (1000 GMT), he said, adding that two
Myanmar officials were among those injured.
"(Myanmar) authorities have asked Thailand to keep the checkpoint open
because some of the victims who live in Thailand have asked to be treated
there," Paitoon told AFP.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar refugees languish in Bangladesh
camps
DHAKA, April 16 (Reuters)
- More than half of 21,600 Myanmar Muslim refugees, stuck in cramped camps
in Bangladesh, are suffering from malnutrition and have skin diseases, an
international aid agency said on Tuesday.
''The 21,600 Myanmar Muslim refugees, called Rohingyas, are still facing an
unacceptable humanitarian situation in two camps in southeastern Bangladesh,''
said Nelke Manders, head of mission in Bangladesh of the Medicins Sans
Frontieres (MSF).
''After ten years of their taking refuge, (the Rohingyas) live in
overcrowded, tight spaces with insufficient water and food,'' she told Reuters.
Manders said at least 58 percent of Rohingya children, and 53 percent of
adults suffer from chronic malnutrition and skin diseases. They are not allowed
to leave the camps and barred from working outside, she said.
More than 250,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar
district from Myanmar's western Arakan province in 1992, trying to escape
alleged military persecution including killing and rape.
Nearly 230,000 had returned home under the supervision of U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) before the repatriation process stopped in the
middle of 1997.
OPPOSE FORCIBLE REPATRIATION
The Holland-based MSF, which has been offering medical services to the
Myanmar refugees ever since they arrived in Bangladesh, has urged the UNHCR and
government of Bangladesh to improve living conditions of the refugees as well as
their safety and security in the camps.
Manders said the MSF opposed forcible repatriation of the refugees.
''The refugees have the right to determine whether it is safe for them to
return home. A durable solution for the future of the refugees has to be
found,'' she said.
UNHCR officials said they were trying to do the best for the refugees in
terms of supplying food, water and other necessities.
They also said the Myanmar authorities had recently cleared another 5,000
Rohingyas for repatriation but the process was yet to resume as the refugees
weighed their options.
''Some of them have agreed (to go back), but most of them are not ...
because of fears of torture and social problems. We can't force them to go
back,'' said UNHCR programme officer in Dhaka, Maksudur Rahman.
He said the refugees also did not want to go back as split families.
''In some cases, two or three of a five or six-member family have been
cleared to go back, but they refuse to leave the rest of their family members
behind,'' Rahman told Reuters on Tuesday.
The UNHCR and Bangladesh government are trying to motivate those having the
clearance to go home, he said without giving details.
Bangladeshi officials said most of the Rohingyas were economic refugees and
could not be considered for a permanent living in Bangladesh.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thailand Blast Kills Five
Mon Apr 15, 1:09 PM ET MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - An
explosion in a Myanmar town near the Thai border killed five people and injured
about 30 others, witnesses and Thai officials said Monday.
The explosion in Myawaddy, opposite the Thai town of Mae Sot, 230 miles
northwest of Bangkok, may have been caused by a bomb on a rickshaw, witnesses
said.
Myanmar authorities had no public comment.
Thai media said the blast could be related to an incident last Friday when
two men from Myanmar crossed the border and tossed hand grenades from a
motorcycle at a gas station in Mae Sot, injuring four attendants.
One attacker was caught. Thai police said he appeared to be a member of the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a guerrilla group allied to the military
government of Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army has been associated with violent and
criminal activities at the border, including extortion, smuggling and illegal
logging.
----------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Tuesday, 16 April, 2002, 06:29
GMT 07:29 UK
Seven dead in Thai-Burma border blast Seven people are now thought to have been killed in a blast near the
Thai-Burmese border.
About 30 others are reported to have been injured in Monday's explosion,
which happened near the Burmese side of a bridge which links the two countries.
Local officials say the blast was caused by a bomb tied to a rickshaw.
No-one has claimed responsibility, but Thai police suspect one of the Karen
ethnic militia groups which are fighting near the Burmese border, was behind the
incident.
The bomb exploded at about 1700 local time (1000 GMT), an hour before the
checkpoint was due to be closed.
Burmese officials hurt
A Thai immigration official, Captain Paitoon Lakleua, said the bomb
exploded just 20 metres (66 feet) away from a military checkpoint. Two Burmese
officials were among those injured.
Water Festival celebrations meant the bridge was busier than
usual
Captain Paitoon said the bomb was fitted to a three-wheel bicycle cart
which was parked on the Burmese side of the bridge, between the towns of Myawadi
and Mae Sot.
"It is likely that a TNT device hidden in the cart was detonated by remote
control," he told the news agency AFP.
The border crossing, which had initially been kept open to allow any of the
seriously injured to receive treatment in the Thai provincial hospital, has now
been closed after the Burmese officials said they could deal with the
casualties, according to Captain Paitoon
Ethnic rebels suspected
Police say rebel groups along the border often carry makeshift bombs for
protection.
Some local officials said they suspected Monday's blast was the work of a
pro-Rangoon Karen group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKAB),
But a Thai military source told AFP that the explosion could have been a
revenge attack by another rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), after the
DKAB apparently broke its ceasefire with the government last week.
Last week two young Karen rebels threw several hand grenades onto a petrol
station on the Thai side of the border, slightly injuring four people.
Local police captured one of them who they say confessed to being hired by
one of the DKAB leaders to carry out the attack.
Thousands of Burmese people had flocked across the border on Monday to
visit Mae Sot and visit the funfair there and watch tournaments of kick-boxing
and football.
----------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Tuesday, 16 April, 2002,
09:43 GMT 10:43 UK
Inquiry into Thai-Burma blast The Burmese authorities are reported to have begun investigating a blast which killed seven people near the Thai-Burmese border. A Thai army official told AFP news agency that witnesses and relatives of
the dead and injured are being questioned.
The Burmese authorities have not commented on the blast.
About 30 people are reported to have been hurt in Monday's explosion, which
happened near the Burmese side of a bridge which links the two countries.
Local officials say the blast was caused by a bomb tied to a rickshaw.
No-one has claimed responsibility, but Thai police suspect one of the Karen
ethnic militia groups which are fighting near the Burmese border, was behind the
incident.
The bomb exploded at about 1700 local time (1000 GMT), an hour before the
checkpoint was due to be closed.
Burmese officials hurt
A Thai immigration official, Captain Paitoon Lakleua, said the bomb
exploded just 20 metres (66 feet) away from a military checkpoint. Two Burmese
officials were among those injured.
Water Festival celebrations meant the bridge was busier than
usual
Captain Paitoon said the bomb was fitted to a three-wheel bicycle cart
which was parked on the Burmese side of the bridge, between the towns of Myawadi
and Mae Sot.
"It is likely that a TNT device hidden in the cart was detonated by remote
control," he told the news agency AFP.
The border crossing, which had initially been kept open to allow any of the
seriously injured to receive treatment in the Thai provincial hospital, has now
been closed after the Burmese officials said they could deal with the
casualties, according to Captain Paitoon
Ethnic rebels suspected
Police say rebel groups along the border often carry makeshift bombs for
protection.
Some local officials said they suspected Monday's blast was the work of a
pro-Rangoon Karen group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKAB),
But a Thai military source told AFP that the explosion could have been a
revenge attack by another rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), after the
DKAB apparently broke its ceasefire with the government last week.
Last week two young Karen rebels threw several hand grenades onto a petrol
station on the Thai side of the border, slightly injuring four people.
Local police captured one of them who they say confessed to being hired by
one of the DKAB leaders to carry out the attack.
Thousands of Burmese people had flocked across the border on Monday to
visit Mae Sot and visit the funfair there and watch tournaments of kick-boxing
and football.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Tuesday 16 April 2002
COBRA GOLD - Drug war tactics to feature in exercises Observers from 18 nations to attend Wassana Nanuam Instruction in drug suppression tactics by US special forces will be a
feature of the Cobra Gold joint military exercise for the first time this
year.
The exercise, from May 14-28, will also include peace-keeping and
anti-terrorism missions, Maj-Gen Piyasak Desaputra, director for joint and
combined exercises, said.
US troops trained soldiers from the army's Special Task Force 399 in drug
suppression in 2000. Training then included the use of radar and sensors to
monitor the movement of smugglers in border areas.
An army source said the US was lending more help because methamphetamines
were becoming a major problem in the United States.
Actual seizures of large amounts of methamphetamine could be expected in
northern and western border areas during the exercise, through intelligence
provided by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the source said.
Task Force 399 would deploy against drug traffickers in three Black Hawk
helicopters it received only last week.
Training would focus on night operations.
The army bought the helicopters from the US at $10 million each. Two more
Black Hawks are due to arrive by mid-2003 with plans to purchase a total of 33
by 2009.
Anti-terrorism training would emphasise handling of chemical and biological
weapons, including anthrax, the source said. The drill would deal with civilian
evacuation and the use of safety gear to contain and dispose of chemical and
biological weapons.
It would take place in Sa Kaeo, Chon Buri and Lop Buri provinces.
Training in the transport of large equipment was set for Juk Samet port in
Chon Buri.
In addition, 40 Thai special forces troops would go to the US for training
in strategic parachuting.
All told, 13,200 US personnel would participate in this year's Cobra Gold,
up from 4,973 last year. This included 550 special forces troops.
Most would be from the US Pacific Marine Corps, Special Operations Command,
Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command and Military Sealift Command. The US
troops would stay in Thailand until June 7.
Maj-Gen Piyasak said the exercise would remain trilateral, with Singapore
as the other participant.
Another 18 nations would send a total of 75 observers _ Australia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, France, South
Korea, Cambodia, Tonga, India, Russia, China, Brunei, Vietnam, Fiji and
Bangladesh.
The number of observers would rise sharply, up from 10, because Washington
wanted to make it clear the drill was not a threat to other nations. The US
approved all requests for observer status.
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