GIRL PORTER KILLED BY LAND MINE
(Based on IMNA report: August 7, 2003)

When the Burmese Army conscripts villagers as porters they are used as human
mine shields during military offensives in southern Mon State.

According to local sources, the Light Infantry Battalion No. 273 took 4 to 5 people from each village in the southern part of Ye Township to carry ammunition during their offensives against Mon guerrillas led by Nai Hloin and Nai Bin.

The BA indiscriminately targets all age groups including young girls and older people; many step on hidden land mines and killed or are physically maimed during the BA’s search for the Mon splinter group.

In mid July, a witness from Krein Kanyeh village who was taken as a porter said a young girl named Mi Aye Thar stepped on a land mine and died instantly. Shortly after this incident, three days later, 3 other porters stepped on land mines, Nai Hein, a 38-year-old man, died instantly, while the other two men were physically maimed for life when with their legs were cut off after serious injuries from the explosion.

Fighting continues unabated between the BA and the Mon guerrilla group in southern Mon State and the northern part of Tenasserim Division. The Burmese Army restricts the movement of civilians to block off possible rebel support during the military operation.

Whenever villagers leave their villages they need to carry travel ID cards issued by the local battalion, signed by the military officer and stamped with the name of their battalion. If arrested outside of their villages without ID cards, they may be fined, beaten or shot said the source.

The BA military operation is launched to wipe out the Mon armed group led by Nai Hloin and Nai Bin who broke away from the New Mon State Party after it reached a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese military regime.