Western Commander orders villagers to move out

Maungdaw, October 14: The Commander of the Western Command in Burma has ordered the villagers to move out of their village in western Burma, a village elder here said.

A group of high military and border security forces visiting Thet Khine Nyar Village on 6^th October 14, 2004 inquired about the circumstances of the death of a junior military officer in the area. The team members also asked about the whereabouts of the gun possessed by the dead soldier. The western Commander, Major General Maung Oo in a heated speech ordered the villagers either to hand over the missing gun or face being forced out of the village, he further added.

According to the villagers the drunken officer was chased and while he jumped into the nearby stream to escape the wreath of villagers, he got swept away and met with his death. Two days later his body was found in the creek. It is believed that the gun sank and was lost while the soldier got drowned.

Since the incident villagers have left the village to avoid arbitrary arrest and harassment by law enforcing agencies. On September 13 Col. Aung Naing Tun, the Tactical Operation Commander (TOC), Lt Col Myint Oo, the Director of Nasaka, Maungdaw Township – across Bangladesh, and Lieutenant Tin Thet of Military Intelligence-18 came to the village and made detailed enquiry about the death of the soldier. It is alleged that the officer, Ran Aung, got drowned when he fled for life after being chased by villagers as he had raped a 13-year-old girl, a villager quoted Nasaka sources.

According to Nasaka sources 172 families out of 250 who had fled the village to escape repression have come back by 19 September. Some of the villagers are still away and believed to be fleeing from place to place in the border areas. On October 10^th the ruling SPDC junta has ordered to deploy two sections of defense forces to hunt for the fleeing villagers, another villager quoted Nasaka orders.

The high level military team comprised of the Western Commander Major General Maung Oo, the Tactical Operations Commander Col. Aung Naing Tun (Buthidaung), the Director of Nasaka (Border Security Force), Lt Col Myint Oo, Col Aye Thite of Military Operation Command (MOC-15), Major Than Sein of the Military Intelligence (MI-18) and other military officers who visited the said village on October 6, 2004. ##

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