Burma army censured for attacking civilians in Shan State
04 March 2014: The Palaung Women’s Organization (PWO) has strongly condemned Burma army soldiers for their attacks that left a village headman dead and two women injured in Shan State.
Soldiers from the Burma Army battalion No. 77 fired about 15 shells into the village of Pan Pyat, Kyaukse Township last Thursday, killing headman Kyaw Lu, 34, according to PWO.
PWO also said that the two injured women were taken to Kyaukme Hospital for treatment and that ten houses were damaged in the attacks.
A statement by the organization said: “After the shelling, Burmese troops entered the village, and began firing guns into houses indiscriminately, apparently targeting soldiers of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), suspected to be hiding in the village.”
The soldiers held 20 men from the village for about two hours for questioning and released them after threatening them that they would be killed and the entire village burned down if they passed any information to TNLA.
The soldiers seized four men and a 16-year-old boy, who have not yet come back, to act as porters, PWO added.
Lway Poe Ngeal, Joint General Secretary-2 of PWO, said: “Precisely while crucial nationwide ceasefire talks are underway, Burmese government troops are targeting and killing innocent civilians. How can we believe that they really want peace?”
TNLA, the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), is one of the remaining armed groups that haven’t signed a ceasefire agreement with the Central government.#
