More casualties as fighting continues on border

by Daniel Pedersen

Wednesday, 22 April 2009 14:25

Mae Sot (Mizzima) - A lone explosion - a land mine detonating, broke the stillness of Tuesday night, as soldiers steeled themselves for another onslaught on their base camp. However, it did not happen and the soldiers settled down for another night of fitful sleep punctuated by taking turns to watch. The explosion, at about 6.30 pm, may have maimed for life another soldier of the Burmese Army. Casualties mounted on both sides this afternoon, as an intense battle to take over a Karen National Liberation Army settlement, close to the Thai border, by the Burmese Army and an allied militia entered its ninth day. A KNLA Commander, speaking from the besieged Wah Lay Kee camp, said one KNLA soldier had been killed and three others wounded. However, casualties have been greater for the Burmese Army and its ally, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. The commander said his soldiers had counted seven dead and 33 wounded, since the latest hostilities began on April 12 - a Sunday afternoon. Land mines and booby traps laid around the camp have caused the greatest casualties. The combined Burmese Army and DKBA forces totaling about 250 soldiers used scores of mortars, both 60mm and 81mm. On Tuesday afternoon at about 3 pm, a commander at the camp said the latest bombardment had occurred about 25 minutes earlier and the situation “is not good, they are attacking us every day”. The KNLA soldiers have long been expecting this onslaught and have made preparations. The whole area is teeming with booby traps and land mines and the Karen National Union Vice President David Thackrabaw, said the KNLA had been making its own Claymore directional mines, primarily a defensive weapon, but deadly up to a range of 250 metres. Wah Lay Kee, home to the KNLA's Sixth Brigade 201st battalion, although a stone's throw from the Thai border, is isolated, with Thai soldiers maintaining a sizeable presence along potential access routes. KNLA's Colonel Nerdah, said this morning he was confident Wah Lay Kee could be held. “Everything is fine at the moment and there has been no attack this morning, it is quiet,” he said at about 7.45am. < Prev   Next >