“Burmese troops entered two sections of Leh Kee village and burned it, forcing nearly 200 villagers to flee,” the commander said. “About 28 Karenni IDPs were included in the group.” (Source: Irrawaddy Online News)
IDPs Attacked By Burmese Troops in N Karen State
By Saw Yan Naing
August 17, 2007
A group of more than 100 IDPs that has been evading Burmese troops since their village was attacked in 2006 again came under fire on Wednesday in northern Karen State, according to residents near the area.
Khu Oo Reh, the joint-secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the IDPs were discovered by Burmese troops near Leh Kee in the Papun district of Karen State and that their temporary huts were burned to the ground.
A front-line Karenni commander of the KNPP near the location of the attacks said the IDPs came under attack on Wednesday in Leh Kee, a temporary shelter for IDPs near the border between Karen and Karenni states.
“Burmese troops entered two sections of Leh Kee village and burned it, forcing nearly 200 villagers to flee,” the commander said. “About 28 Karenni IDPs were included in the group.”
The IDPs are now said to be moving toward the Thai border with the assistance of the Karen National Liberation Army.
The Karenni commander added that shortly after the Burmese attack on Leh Kee, two skirmishes broke out between junta troops and a combined force of Karen and Karenni opposition guerrilla forces.
The IDPs had fled from their villages near Leh Kee following previous attacks by the Burmese army dating back to 2006, and had been moving frequently in northern Karen State and western Karenni State to avoid junta troops.
Five other villages in Papun district were attacked and burned earlier this month by Burmese forces, according to Saw Steve, a leader of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen Persons, who said that Burmese troops fired mortars into some villages in the area.
Several Burmese army battalions are known to be operating in northern Karen State near Leh Kee village and Mawchi Township in Karenni State.
Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union, said the Burmese army controlled major roads and reinforced its troops in Papun district.
More than 30,000 people in northern Karen State have been displaced in attacks by Burmese forces since the beginning of February 2006, according to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief team that operates in Karen and Karenni states.
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
http://www.ncgub.net/article.php/20070817101533965