Karen Rebels Under Pressure from the Thais

Karen Rebels Under Pressure from Thais

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By MIN LWIN Thursday, March 5, 2009

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Senior military leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) have been pressured by Thai authorities to leave Thailand and return to their own territory, according to KNU sources.

The recent pressure follows a meeting between local Thai and Burmese border authorities held earlier this year in Myawaddy, a border town in Burma’s Karen State, the sources added.

Burmese exiled dissidents in Mae Sot, located opposite Myawaddy in Thailand’s Tak Province, confirmed that Thai authorities had stepped up pressure on leaders of the KNU and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

Speaking to The Irrawaddy by phone on Thursday, the KNU’s Saw David Taw said that the Thai authorities had placed senior KNLA military officers on a list that included their home and office addresses in Mae Sot and were telling them to leave the country.

“Thai authorities gave a semi-official order stating that anyone who can give commands to KNLA battalions has to move from Thailand,” he said.

Thai authorities also said that KNLA commanders and others responsible for KNLA military affairs should to stay on their own territory, said Saw David Taw.

“Thai authorities have also imposed restrictions on KNLA leaders’ travel to and from Mae Sot,” he added. “It appears that the Thai government is putting pressure on the KNLA to stop them engaging in any military activities from Thai territory.”

The KNLA has been fighting the Burmese government since 1948. In 1995, it lost control of its former headquarters at Manerplaw, in Karen State. It later shifted its command center closer to the Thai-Burmese border area.

Since then, the KNU and KNLA have continued to attack the Burmese military by forming small units and basing themselves in temporary jungle camps along the Thai-Burmese border.

Meanwhile, there are reports that the Burmese government has reinforced troops in Karen State in preparation for dry-season military offensives against the Karen rebels.

Military sources said that the Burmese junta has deployed more infantry battalions and a group of armored personnel carriers (APCs) in Kya Inn Seikgyi Township, a “black area” of Karen State where the KNLA is active.