Junta troops force Shan to withdraw

Published on Jun 22, 2002

The Shan State Army (SSA) suffered a military setback yesterday as Burmese soldiers, together with their Wa and Lahu allies, launched an all-out assault against strategic areas adjacent to Chiang Mai's Wieng Haeng district that were taken by the Shan from government troops late last month.

The SSA said in a statement it had been forced to withdraw from the areas because it wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with pro-Rangoon armed ethnic groups.

However, Thai Army officers stationed on the border said the SSA withdrawal came amid heavy shelling by Burmese artillery.

The clashes over the Pang Mai Soong and Pang Kam Kaw hills, both opposite Chiang Mai's Ban Lak Thaeng in Wiang Haeng district, started on May 20 and left several hundred junta troops killed or wounded.

Another major SSA area expected to come under heavy artillery was in the Kaw Fah and Kaw Wan hills, opposite Ban Mae Moh in Chiang Rai's Mae Fah Luang district, the officers said.

Yesterday, a group of about 50 Wa and Lahu militia were trying to circle the SSA-controlled areas from the Thai side. However, they were pushed back to the Burmese side of the border by Thai soldiers, who fired at least 15 mortar rounds against the pro-Burmese militia as they were advancing through Mae Fah Luang's Ban Lao Wang.

The officers said one of the United Wa State Army commanders, fugitive druglord Wei Xsieu-kang, who is wanted on drug trafficking charges, had been able to organise nearly 2,000 militia from northern Shan State. These fighters have joined their Burmese allies along the Thai border.

Wiwatchai Somkum

THE NATION, CHIANG MAI

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