Tatmadaw sent Chin soldiers to fight in Kachin conflicts

18 January 2013: The Burma Army has deployed Chin soldiers from its battalions to fight on the frontline in Kachin conflicts, sources disclosed.

Video evidence posted on Youtube last week revealed that at least 37 Chin soldiers from the Tatmadaw have been killed in the ongoing military offensive against KIA (Kachin Independence Army).

A Kachin pastor said in an interview that he could confirm the number as a prayer service was held for the Chin soldiers at his church, adding: “He does not get information about other casualties.”

Another Youtube video clip posted on 15 December 2012 shows that Lance Corporal Mawng Thang, a Chin soldier from Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion No. 383, was arrested on the battlefield.

The 25-year-old Chin soldier, who was injured on his thigh, chest and hands, was told not to get worried as he would be properly given medical treatment.

In the past, Burma’s successive regimes had been accused of spreading rumours or intentionally deploying ethnic soldiers of the Tatmadaw to open fire at peaceful demonstrators in 1962, 1974 and 2007.

An Arakanese writer, Zaw Htwe Maung, remarked: “This is part of Ne Win’s stratagem to reduce public hatred towards him or his Burma Army and to instil ethnic hatreds among the oppressed peoples.”

Today, The government of Burma officially announced that it would stop the military offensive against KIA at 6am tomorrow.

Thein Sein-led government also admitted that it had been launching air attacks in the state of Kachin in recent weeks but said it was only to clear out the way for military supplies to Burma Army soldiers based in the area.

Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang
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