Mizzima/AFP
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has condemned an attack on diplomats delivering humanitarian aid in Myanmar and called for an end to violence.
A convoy of diplomats from the Indonesia and Singapore embassies on their way to meet with IDPs in Hsi Hseng township in Southern Shan State was attacked near Nan Aw village on the morning of 7 May.
The convoy was said to include diplomats from the Indonesia and Singapore embassies, as well as delegations from the ASEAN Coordination Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Center).
The delegations intended to meet with IDPs at the Pa'O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) Liaison Office in Hsi Hseng township. The shooting attack did not result in any injuries, but the trip was canceled.
"On May 7, I arrived at the Liaison Office. I was there because the administrator summoned me. I'm not aware of everything that occurred. We also learned about the AHA convoy attack. So, we returned home. We did not meet with the AHA delegations,” an IDP from Hsi Hseng township said.
The diplomats were traveling to southern Shan State to support 50 IDPs in Hsi Hseng township, according to a person assisting IDPs in southern Shan State.
"They (the diplomats) want to assist the IDPs in Hsi Hseng township. 50 Internal displaced people are initially what they plan to support. In Hsi Hseng township, there are over thousands of IDPs. The IDPs were gathered at the liaison office by PNLO," a person assisting IDPs in southern Shan State said.
According to the volunteers, more than 8,000 IDPs have displaced their homes following the military coup in Hsi Hseng township, southern Shan State, as a result of fighting between the Military Council Army and the resistance forces.
The Military Council has yet to issue a statement regarding the attack on the AHA convoy.
On Public Voice Television (PVTV), Naing Htoo Aung, Secretary of the National Unity Government's (NUG) Ministry of Defense, asserted that the shooting of an international diplomatic convoy in Hsi Hseng township had nothing to do with revolutionary forces, including the PDF.
Naing Htoo Aung said that the military council and the Pa'O National Organization (PNO) militia were stationed where the incident occurred and it was not a convenient place for guerrillas.
On 8 May, Indonesian President Joko Widodo condemned an attack on diplomats delivering humanitarian aid and called for an end to violence.
The officials and diplomats had been travelling Sunday to "hand over humanitarian aid," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday.
"Regretfully on their way, there was a shootout," he said, without giving any further details.
Although it has not been confirmed who attacked the convoy, there is one lead.
According to a report received by Euro-Burma Office (EBO), the attack was by a local PaO village militia who are technically under the command of the Myanmar Army. The attack also took place in the PaO Self-Administrative Zone under the jurisdiction of the Myanmar military. No resistance forces operate in that area and no resistance forces were involved.
Southern Shan state - home to Taunggyi township - has seen relatively little of the violence that has ravaged Myanmar since the coup more than two years ago.
But in March around 30 people sheltering at a monastery in the same state were killed, with the junta and anti-coup fighters trading accusations over the massacre.
Southeast Asian leaders will this week meet in Indonesia for a summit expected to be dominated by the Myanmar crisis.
Long slammed by critics as a toothless talking shop, ASEAN has led diplomatic attempts to resolve the bloody crisis.
But its efforts have stalled as the junta ignores international criticism and refuses to engage with its opponents, which include ousted lawmakers, anti-coup PDFs and ethnic minority armed groups.
Mizzima, additional reporting AFP
