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| The KIO has sent the Northern Command a letter warning it to pull back troops which it says are threatening its soldiers. KIO troops await inspection in this file photo. Photo: Mizzima |
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Burmese Northern Command was warned by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on Thursday to withdraw its troops before May 26 from the area controlled by KIO Battalion No.5, according to a KIO official.
A warning letter was sent by the KIO to withdraw the troops of Infantry Unit No. 142 that is positioned 0.2 kilometers from the base of KIO Battalion No. 5 in the eastern part of Mohnyin Township in Kachin State.
‘The warning letter says if the Northern Command fails to withdraw its troops and something bad happens, the KIO would not shoulder the blame’, Hla Nang, a KIO official, told Mizzima.
The letter was sent to the Northern Command on May 19, and a copy to the Chief Minister of Kachin State Lajawn Ngan Seng.
‘We can say that there are growing tensions between government troops and the KIO. If the Northern Command heeds our warning and withdraws its troops, the tensions will ease’, Hla Nang said.
Recently, a government soldier from Infantory Unit No. 121 under the Northern Command stepped on a KIO landmine and government troops fired their guns into the air, La Nang said.
After that incident, the Northern Command warned the liaison office of the KIO in Myitkyina on Wednesday about the use of landmines.
A KIO officer told Mizzima that recently four people were injured by landmines planted by the KIO.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning government Light Infantry Unit No. 320 based in Daw Pone Yan Township fired three 75-mm shells at KIO Battalion No. 25 based on the west bank of Taping River.
‘A Chinese Company is building a dam near Taping River. Both the government and KIO posted armed guards around the site. That’s why they tried to threaten us. But, their shells failed to hit our base’, the KIO official said.
Earlier, the government posted armed security guards around the site of a project working on Katha-Bhamo road. The site is in the area controlled by KIO Battalion No. 5. Currently, the project is suspended.
The Thailand-based Kachin News Group reported on Wednesday that fresh Burmese troops had been deployed in areas near KIO Battalion No. 1, which is under Brigade 3 in Mansi Township.
In February, fighting took place between government Infantry Unit No. 15 and KIO Battalion 27 in Mansi Township. The government’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Yin Htwe, died in the fighting.
The KIO was formed in 1961 to fight for equality and self determination for the Kachin people. It is also a member of the United Nationalities Federal Council, an alliance of 12 ethnic armed groups formed in February.
After the visit of China's Central Military Commission Vice Chairman General Xu Caihou to Burma last week, tension has increased between government troops and KIO troops based along the Sino-Burmese border.
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