Burma's army is using helicopters to send reinforcements to Kachin State in a bid to avoid ambushes by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), despite a call from the country's president to halt fighting, according to sources in the conflict area.
La Nan, a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the KIA's political wing, said that the government has stepped up its use of helicopters since last month, noting that previously they were used primarily to evacuate wounded government troops. “Since Nov 25, they have been using more helicopters, not only to transport injured troops, but also to bring in ammunition and reinforcements, because they were suffering heavy casualties when they tried to bring more soldiers into the combat zone overland,” he said.
La Nan said that the most severe clashes have been near Mai Ja Yang, where the KIA's Brigade 3 is based and where hundreds of civilians have been displaced by the fighting. Despite a call by Burmese President Thein Sein earlier this week to end a conflict that has been raging since June, the government army seems to be preparing for an escalation of the conflict, said La Nan.
Observers in the area said that anger over heavy casualties inflicted by the KIA could be fueling the army's apparent unwillingness to end its offensive. In one recent three-day battle with the KIA's Battalion 15 alone, some 73 Burmese troops were killed, according to KIO records cited by La Nan.
Heavy casualties have been reported on both sides, although complete figures are not available. However, sources who visited the conflict zones recently said they witnessed hundreds of dead government troops. According to one Western observer, fighting continues to rage on unabated near the KIO's headquarters of Laiza, on the Sino-Burmese border.
“The KIA and the Burmese army had been struggling over the mountaintop post of Mu Bum. Late in the afternoon, three Huskies could be seen circling and dropping supplies and some think perhaps even bombs, as major ground-shaking explosions could be heard and felt all the way to Mai Ja Yang. So it seems the president's orders are falling on deaf ears,” he added.
Meanwhile, efforts to bring relief supplies to civilians displaced by the conflict continue to face hurdles.
According to La Nan, a group of UN relief workers that recently visited KIO-controlled areas for humanitarian aid delivery were stranded for several hours as they attempted to travel to Bhamo Township because of mortar shelling by government troops.
There are estimated to be more than 34,000 refugees sheltering in Laiza, the majority of them women, children and the elderly. As winter sets in and temperatures fall in this northernmost corner of Southeast Asia, there are concerns that they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to health problems.
On Wednesday, the government's newly established human rights commission also warned that children living in temporary shelters in Kachin State could be suffering from psychological trauma, while “the adults seem to experience a sense of insecurity and diminished confidence,” according to a statement published by the state-run New Light of Myanmar.
However, the KIO has made it clear that it does not welcome offers of help from the government. “We don’t accept their donations because they are not sincere. We refuse to take anything offered by groups affiliated with the government that is attacking us,” said La Nan. In addition to 2,000 kg of supplies from Kachin State officials and 200 bags of rice donated by local MP Thein Zaw, the KIO also turned down 400 family kits—containing blankets, clothing and other basic necessities—from the government-backed Myanmar Red Cross Society. However, it has accepted relief supplies provided by UN organizations such as the the United Nations Children's Fund, which provided 300 family kits to displaced families in Laiza on Tuesday. All rejected donations were returned to their respective sources on Wednesday, according to La Nan
2011.12.15 The Irrawaddy - Govt Sending More Troops to Kachin