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KHRG #97-07 Part 5 of 6 (Offensives
Subject: KHRG #97-07 Part 5 of 6 (Offensives)
REFUGEES FROM THE SLORC OCCUPATION
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
May 25, 1997 / KHRG #97-07
*** PART 5 OF 6 - SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT ***
[Some details omitted or replaced by 'XXXX' for Internet distribution.]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#D22.
NAME: "Saw Po Htoo" SEX: M AGE: 67 Karen Christian church elder
FAMILY: Widower, 2 children
ADDRESS: Kyone Yaw village, Kya In township INTERVIEWED: 2/4/97
Q: When did you arrive here?
A: I arrived 5 days ago.
Q: Why did you leave your village?
A: We left because we could not live and we could not eat. Because our
rice was all taken and we had to go and ask for our rice back, weighed out
on a scale little by little. We had to climb high mountains with heavy
loads.
So we couldn't stay, we didn't dare stay anymore and we left.
Q: Who collected your rice?
A: The Burmese soldiers. They came one month and 6 days ago. They
made us collect all of our rice. They caught the chickens and the pigs to
eat
and they destroyed our belongings and animals. They surrounded our
village, gathered us together in one place, and then they took all of our
animals to eat and destroy. They hurt us also - even the Pastor couldn't
stay
at home, he had to run out and hide himself in the forest. They used us to
do hard work and carry heavy loads until we couldn't do it any more, so we
left.
They hurt some people. I saw it. They beat us on our faces, punched us
and made us do hard work like cattle or buffalos. Whatever they ordered
we had to do. We had to clear a yard for them, dig holes, and climb the
mountain to look for Karen soldiers. If we couldn't find any, they told us
that we were telling them lies and hurt us. They didn't do anything to the
women, but they were very dangerous for the men. I don't know what they
would have done to the women if there were no men in the village.
Q: How many people were beaten?
A: A lot of people who were caught. They caught me and bound me for a
while, and while I was there I saw what they did so I felt afraid and escaped
later before they beat me. They tied our necks with rope, so I didn't dare
to stay. I didn't see everybody, but with my own eyes I saw them beat 20
people. With their feet they kicked, with their hands they beat people's
faces and with their guns they beat us. They also beat us with bamboo and
wood, and they took the stairs from our houses and beat us with them.
[Karen houses are built above-ground with a ladder-like stairway of wood
or bamboo up to them.] If we couldn't find Karen soldiers they hurt us. If
we couldn't climb high mountains with heavy loads they hurt us. They also
killed some people. Two people were killed. I didn't see it with my own
eyes, but the escaped porter told me that they were killed on the mountain
among the rocks. I don't know their names. They were villagers in Kya In
township. They felt so tired until they couldn't climb the mountain with
their heavy loads any more. They fell down, so the Burmese soldiers
kicked them and made them stand up again. Eventually they couldn't stand
up again, so the Burmese soldiers killed them in the end. They shot them
dead and continued their journey. That happened 3 days after the Burmese
arrived at my village.
Q: Is that the first time SLORC has arrived in your village?
A: The very first time for my village. They were from #44 Division. Our
village covers a wide area but there were about 40 houses in it. They
ordered us to build a place [camp] for them, build shelters and dig toilets
for them, dig holes for cover, clear a yard, and make 4 or 5 concentric rings
of fences surrounding their place. We had to go and dig every day, from
when they first came until now. It's still not finished. It's a very wide
place. They kept us all together a little apart from their place. We had to
work every day for them, and we had to bring our own rice to eat for many
days because they never gave us any food, and they never care about our
hunger. There's no time left for us to do our own work. They caught every
man to do the work. They didn't catch women because there were still many
men in the village, but I can't say what will happen when all the men escape
from the place.
We had to work early in the morning until late in the evening with no rest.
When we were too slow they didn't beat us, but they shouted at us to hurry
up. At night some people could sleep and others had to work. They called
us by turns. The people on night duty had to live in their camp until we
rotated. I had to work in the night for 3 nights. I had to stay until
someone came to replace me. We had to work for them every night and day. It
was hard work. Now my cart is left there with the Army. I'll never go back
to get my cart and belongings any more. There are about 500 soldiers there
now, I guess.
Q: How did they collect your rice for the first time?
A: They collected all of our paddy on the first day they arrived. They
ordered us to bring our paddy to them and to build a building for our own
paddy. They ordered us to bring all of our paddy to their camp together
because they said they didn't want us to feed Karen soldiers. They said if
we keep our paddy in our own homes, the Karen soldiers will come and eat
and it would give strength to Karen soldiers. So we have to beg our rice
back from them, weighed by scale little by little. We must buy it back from
them, our own paddy. They would never give it back to us for free. We
had to pay 10 Kyats for 8 milktins of paddy, or 160 Kyats for 2 big tins.
They keep it in their camp, and they only give you 1 big tin [about 15 kg.]
each time. When it is gone we must go to them again.
They wrote down the villagers' names and also the names of the people who
brought their paddy to them. They went around finding out how many
people are in each family and writing it down. Many villagers ran away and
hid in the forest, but the soldiers tried to look for them and catch them.
Some people escaped, but only men. They left their children and wives,
ran to the forest with their rice and hid there, and they felt great trouble.
[The men flee to avoid torture and forced labour, while the women and
children hope to be treated better and stay behind to try to protect their
home, land and belongings.]
Some families fled to other places, and some came here. Some families
here are from my village, and some are from Lay Wah Ploh - it is very close
to my village. We didn't come the same way because we didn't dare to wait
for each other. We feared that the soldiers would see us. They would catch
us if they saw us.
Q: Why did you choose this place to come and stay?
A: Because we knew this place and thought we could get food here. We
walked one day to get here. We travelled at night, and we ran quickly when
we crossed the [Thanbyuzayat-Three Pagodas Pass] road. We worried
that if we went to other places we would have no food to eat. XXXX. We
heard that in this place our white younger brothers and sisters take care of
the people, so we came [in Karen legend, the caucasian is the younger
sibling of the Karen people]. If they didn't take care of us, we would die.
So I came to cry unto them for help. Please have mercy upon us.
Q: Now that you are here do you want to go back again?
A: We think we will stay here and not go back any more. If we can't stay
here we will continue our travels but never go back. Everybody is afraid in
our village.
Q: What do you hope for the future?
A: We hope to stay here.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#D23.
NAME: "Saw Nee Taw Thaw" SEX: M AGE: 18 Karen Christian farmer
FAMILY: Single
ADDRESS: Kyone Yaw village, southern Dooplaya District INTERVIEWED: 2/4/97
Q: When did you leave your village?
A: One week ago. I'm from Kyone Yaw. I came here because I was
afraid of the SLORC. They captured me as a porter and I had to carry
things for them and climb the mountains. When I couldn't carry things for
them they beat me, so when we reached the mountain I ran away.
Q: Did they beat you hard?
A: Yes, they beat me very hard. I was in pain. They beat me with their
hands while they pointed their guns at me. I just had to bear that, so later
I
ran away. When I was with them I didn't see anyone killed by them, but I
saw them beat other people very hard with a stick. After beating them, they
ordered the people to carry. We had to carry very far and climb the
mountains, and if we couldn't climb we were beaten by the soldiers. They
wouldn't put any medicine on my wound, or on the wounds of other
porters. They would kill us if we couldn't carry their ammunition and food.
There were about 30 porters and 100 soldiers. They were from #44 [Light
Infantry] Division.
Q: Did they see you when you were escaping?
A: Yes, they saw me along the path and they shot at me 2 or 3 times. I
didn't go home, I ran straightaway to here. It took me 4 days.
Q: What do you think about the future? Will you stay here or go back?
A: I'll stay here. I don't want to go back. If the situation is good I'll
go back, but if the enemy doesn't leave I won't go back to the village.
Q: Where are your parents?
A: In Kyone Yaw. My mother is old. I think they can't leave. [Note: his
parents have no way of knowing where he is, or even whether he is still
alive.]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#D24.
NAME: "Moo Nay" SEX: M AGE: 40 Karen Christian farmer
FAMILY: Married, 7 children
ADDRESS: Lay Wah Ploh village, Kya In township INTERVIEWED: 2/4/97
Q: When did you arrive here?
A: 3 days ago. The Burmese soldiers forced us to do hard work for them
and hurt us. We were afraid of them so we ran away.
Q: When did the Burmese soldiers arrive at your village?
A: One month and six days ago. They came around our village and took
my rice and animals to eat. After that they called us together and forced us
to work hard for them, doing things like fencing the place where they will
settle down, digging holes for them to protect themselves, and clearing all
the bushes from their place. We also had to cut a lot of bamboo and carry it
to them. It wasn't in my village - we had to go and do all these things in
Kyone Yaw every day. Other villagers also. Every village must do it. I had
to work in the hot sun all day for them carrying heavy things. It was hard
work, but they allowed no period to rest. They didn't beat me, but they
shouted at me. I worked there for 3 days. They gathered us together,
wrote down our names, and then 20 people had to go and work for them
each day, for 3 days at a time.
Lay Wah Ploh village has 53 houses. They divided our 20 people into two
groups. One group had to cut and carry the bamboo and the other group
had to work in their camp digging the holes, cleaning the camp, etc. They
didn't call porters, but they ordered us to bring our carts to them and they
used our carts as well as our bullocks.
Q: Did they hurt any people in your village?
A: Yes - they hurt this man here [see following interview]. He had to
guard the carts. They didn't tie him but they beat him.
Q: Did they also collect the villagers' rice?
A: For now they didn't collect our paddy, but they forced us to build a
building to hold our paddy in our headman's garden. They ordered that one
week ago. As for me, I didn't do that but ran away to escape.
Q: Did your family come together with you?
A: Yes, we went out together at night time. All night and all the next day
we were walking from our place to here. When we were walking we hoped
to get to a safe place. We thought that this place would be a safe place for
us, so we came here.
Q: What do you hope for the future of you and your family?
A: If we can stay here we will stay. If we can't stay here we will go
forward, but we will never go back to our village. I'm not sure if this
place
is safe, I don't know, but if we have to move again we will. That is my
decision.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#D25.
NAME: "Saw Kenyaw" SEX: M AGE: 56 Karen Christian farmer
FAMILY: Married, 5 children
ADDRESS: Lay Wah Ploh village, Kya In township INTERVIEWED: 2/4/97
I arrived here 3 days ago, with my family. There were a few families still
in the village, but most have left the village. They left after the SLORC
arrived. The soldiers captured me, I was the first one captured. Then we
had to stay in Lay Wah Ploh village for 3 days, with one cart. After that
they called me to Kyone Yaw village. They were joking with me. They
asked me, "Are you a Ringworm? You are a big Ringworm. You are the
Great Eagle of the Ringworms!" ["Ringworm" (nga pway) is a derogatory
SLORC name for Karen soldiers.] I told them, "Go ahead and cut my
throat." So they said, "We will kill you within the next 3 hours." After 3
hours he came and said he was just joking, he wouldn't kill me. He said,
"The ringworm, when they see us they just smile and we don't realise, and
then they kill us. The one who smiles like you is the one who can kill us."
["Saw Kenyaw" smiles and jokes a lot.]
Then he didn't tie me up, but he kept me held in a house with 5 other
captives. All 5 of us had been captured at the same time. There was no
floor, we had to stay on the ground. One room was for the bullock-cart
driver and the other room was for us. [The bullock-cart driver was
probably the cart owner being forced to do labour with his cart, while the
other 5 were suspected 'ringworms'.] They asked many questions but I
don't remember all of it. They kept saying and accusing that we were
'ringworms'. They tried to threaten us and claim that we are their enemies,
which is not true.
Q: Did they threaten you when they were asking the questions?
A: Yes, one aimed his gun at me while the other questioned me. They
took a knife and shaved my scalp 3 times [shaving his hair off] and they
sawed the knife back and forth across my throat. They beat me three times
on my head and three times on my leg. When they shaved my head it bled.
It was very painful, but I just had to bear it.
I don't know how many hours it was, but at 2 p.m. we had to go. After
beating me it was time to leave. Then we had to take them to Meh T'Pret
village to get their rations - rice, milk, and sugar. We had to send them
and carry it all with the bullock cart. It took 8 days to go there.
Q: Why did you flee your village?
A: I left because I was afraid that they would catch me and force me to
work for them again. I left separately from the other villagers, but we met
on the way.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#D26.
NAME: "Saw Tamla Htoo" SEX: M AGE: 60 Karen Christian hill farmer
FAMILY: Married, 7 children
ADDRESS: Meh T'Li village, southern Dooplaya District INTERVIEWED: 2/4/97
I've been here for 3 weeks now. The reason that I left my village is because
everything was all mixed up. We were living in a little group here and
another group there and our houses were in their path. The SLORC Army
came and the Karen Army came and passed through our village. When they
crossed paths there was fighting, and we feared the crossfire would hit us so
we had to flee our village. Before there was no fighting, only starting last
year and this year the fighting came. There was fighting last month in
March, and there was also fighting in December and January in our village.
Meh T'Li is about 6 miles from Kyun Chaung - it is 2 hours' walk.
Our village was KNU area because there was a gate there. SLORC often
came to the village even when the KNU stayed there. When the SLORC
came last month they occupied the village, but when they were leaving the
Karen soldiers came back, and when the Karen soldiers attacked with great
force SLORC ran away. The villagers ran and dived and took shelter under
the houses and trees and beside the stream. The Burmese didn't like it
when the villagers ran away far from them. They said to us not to run
away, just to stay close to them [as a shield, and not to go and tell the
KNLA where the SLORC were positioned].
Now the SLORC is in the village. When they came they called all the
villagers who were staying at their hill farms, up the streams and hiding in
the bush to come back and stay in the village. They said to the villagers,
"If you are good people come and live in the village and we won't do anything
to you", so the villagers came back and stayed in the village. But the
KNDO Karen told us not to go back. Now that the SLORC has occupied
the village, the KNDO ran away to other places. When there was no more
fighting, some villagers went back and stayed near the road. The SLORC
said that if any fighting starts they won't differentiate between the
civilians and the soldiers, they will shoot everyone.
We were there and waited to see what the SLORC would do. Then the
SLORC started taking all the property and valuables from the villagers and
burning their houses, and they ate all the chickens and pigs that they found.
Even the cattle, they shot them dead and ate them. While I was there they
took all the clothes and threw them around all over the place. We didn't
dare say anything to them. From my house they took all the clothing that
was good and all the rice that they found. They took 8 big tins of rice
[about 125 kg./250 lb.] and all the chickens. My house was close to the
road so they took everything. They took everything from all the people
whose houses were close to the road.
Q: Did they take all the rice and put it into one place?
A: No, they did not do that.
Q: How many houses are there in your village?
A: There are three areas in the village. Before we had to flee there were
more than 100 houses in Meh T'Li village, but now some of the villagers
hide up the streams and some stay in Lay Mine Hta, some stay in Htee Kay
Kee and some of them stay in Meh T'Li Kee, they are all scattered. Now
there are only 20 families on the northern side and 6 families where I live.
The others have all fled up the stream or down the stream, or they've run
away to other villages like Lay Mine Hta, Meh T'Li Kee and Htee Kay Kee.
Q: Since the SLORC occupied the village have they asked the villagers to
do anything?
A: The SLORC orders them to dig trenches, build their barracks, fence
their base, carry water and cut wood. The SLORC asked them to build the
post in Ah Grime - that is between Meh T'Li and Ah Ploh. Three people
from my village have to go, and others from Ah Ploh, Lay Po and Ler Say
villages. My son had to go for 3 days. They had to take their own food.
He had to take his own tools. He had to fence the barracks. There were
about 20 or 30 villagers there. There are more than 100 soldiers staying
there. The villagers had to cut and carry the materials to build the fence.
For example, if they have 10 villagers from Ah Ploh then 5 of them have to
cut three big bamboo each and the other 5 have to stay with the soldiers in
their post [building the fence]. For three days 3 villagers had to go from
our village, then another 3 villagers had to replace them for the next 3
days.
All of those who went were men.
Q: Did they demand any porters?
A: Yes, they called for porters when they came, but the people who stay
near the road they didn't even call, they just arrested them all and took
them. Then they beat and kicked them.
Q: When the SLORC came to occupy the village did they come with
porters from other places?
A: Yes, the porters came with them, the porters ran to escape and came to
eat rice at my house.
Q: Since the SLORC occupation can the villagers move around freely?
A: No, if they want to go to other villages they have to ask permission
from the military authorities for a 3-day pass. Their names are noted down,
and after 3 days they have to report back personally.
Q: Has there been any fighting since the SLORC occupation?
A: Yes, there was fighting a week ago outside the village between the
SLORC and the KNU. Sometimes when the KNDO comes to the village
and then SLORC comes too there is fighting, and none of them are
wounded but the villagers die instead of them, so we left the village. The
KNDO said, "Because you are living with the enemy this means you
sympathise with them, so when there is fighting we must shoot you also.
We told you to get out of the village, so if something happens to you it is
your own fault." [Note: this goes against KNU policy. It shows a bad
KNDO officer, possibly made worse by the frustration the current SLORC
offensive has created in much of the Karen military.]
Q: Did you have any difficulties coming here?
A: It was very difficult to come here, we couldn't follow the main route.
We came the Meh T'Li Kee way, and we had to climb many mountains.
KNDO was along the main route and the SLORC were also going along
that route, so we were afraid that if there was fighting between them we
would be caught in the crossfire and wouldn't know which way to run. So
we took a roundabout route which was further but safer. We came here
because the SLORC are all over our area and we hadn't heard of the
SLORC attacking here, and because we heard that we could get food here
through people's mercy. I couldn't bring any blankets, just one cooking pot
and only 3 of our children. All our clothes and belongings were taken by
the SLORC, we had nothing left there and no way to make our living, so
whatever the problems will be here I left my village and came to stay here.
If I am allowed to stay here I will stay, and if not I will go on to some
other place, but if there is peace I would like to go back to my own village
because I still have my land there. SLORC can take our belongings and
burn down our houses, but even they cannot take and carry our land away.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#D27.
NAME: "Naw May Oo Paw" SEX: F AGE: 21 Karen Buddhist
FAMILY: Married, no children
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Kyaik Maraw township (near Mudon) INTERVIEWED: 3/4/97
["Naw May Oo Paw" arrived at the Thai border on 2 April 1997. Her
village is not directly in the path of the offensive, but it has still been
affected.]
I left XXXX village about 10 days ago. The Burmese Army are collecting
taxes in the village. We are forced to pay, otherwise they threaten us.
Even the village elders have to follow their orders. SLORC collects rice and
other food from the villagers and we have to send 4 or 5 bullock carts
loaded with food for them. We also have to send porters through a lottery
system. Children also have to do that. In my village, there are about 300
to 400 houses. Sometimes they demand 10 porters, sometimes 6. Our village
head doesn't want to send people, so he needs to pay bribes to the soldiers.
He collected the money, 10,000 Kyats from each household [possibly for
the whole year]. The Karen soldiers also demanded porters. We have to
send 2 villagers twice a week according to the draw system. If someone
doesn't want to go, he has to pay some money. Occasionally, SLORC
soldiers came and asked for paddy, 5 tins [about 15 kg. per tin] from each
house.
Q: And during the current offensive against 6th Brigade [Dooplaya District]?
A: Same as before. The KNLA also collects soldiers, the same as before.
It is the same as usual. During the offensive, the Karen soldiers came and
asked for food. The headman didn't give it to them so they looted it from
the villagers.
SLORC also came, took food and collected some porters. When they
entered the village, all the men had to flee and hide. Then they arrested
even the children. Even if we had already given money for porter fees, they
still came to collect people.
Both of them [SLORC and KNLA] always come to our village. Sometimes
they meet. So the village elders have to go and request SLORC as well as
KNLA not to fight in our village. SLORC does not have complete control
over our village. They said, "If we see Karen soldiers in the village, we
are
going to burn it down and make it like an ashtray". The Karen soldiers are
afraid of SLORC burning down the village, and they allow the villagers to
leave for a short time when the SLORC arrives.
On xx March when I was coming back from Moulmein hospital, along the
road I saw two truckloads of soldiers, two truckloads of porters, one
truckload of dogs [possibly to search for landmines] and one truck loaded
with mules for carrying things.
Then after I got back, I met two porters near a rubber plantation in XXXX
village. One of them had been injured in his cheeks by a knife. He could
not speak at all. The other one was injured on his nose. He could speak.
He said to me, "Please help us!" I was afraid of them. It was night time.
I asked them, "How can I help you? Where have you come from?" He said,
"We were arrested in Moulmein." I didn't ask them their names. Both of
them were from Moulmein. They were Burman. I didn't ask their ages, but
maybe around 30. He said he was arrested in Moulmein market when his
wife was selling things. "I was arrested when I went to give a lunch box to
my wife", he told me. The other one [who could not speak] was also
arrested in the market. All of them were arrested, tied with a rope and then
they had to work on the road construction near Kyone Done. They took
them by truck to the construction site near Kyone Done. Some of them fell
sick and some died. They got nothing to eat. The SLORC soldiers only
fed them some banana stems. This one man was stabbed in his cheeks and
fell down in the valley. Another man who remained at the top of the hill
had his throat cut.
Q: Why were they tortured like that?
A: They had no food to give to the labourers, so they wanted them to die.
The villagers became a burden for them. I think these 2 men complained to
the soldiers that they had no food to eat so a cruel soldier stabbed one of
them in his cheeks so that he could not eat, and cut the other on his nose.
I offered them some food. After the meal, he said that they wanted to go to
the hospital. He had no money. His family was arrested too. He had no
money to pay for the treatment. So I gave them 2,000 Kyats and took them
to the hospital. First I brought the men to XXXX. When we arrived at the
car road, we went to the hospital by passenger truck. I requested the nurse
to arrange care for them and to write a letter to their parents. One of them
needed blood. Then I went back home. I didn't ask how long they were
taken for [as porters]. I didn't ask any other questions because my duty
was just to get them to hospital.
After that, when I went to Kyauk Kweh I met another porter who had
escaped from the SLORC soldiers. He had lost his way near Kyauk Kweh.
I didn't see any injury on his body. He said that he was tortured, so he
fled. He said, "I didn't have enough food and no water to drink. I had to
drink my own urine." I asked him, "Where are you going back to?" He said
to xxxx. He was a porter and the Burmese soldiers tortured him. That's why
he ran away. He was an old man. He said he had some children.
The Ya Wa Ta [Village LORC] authorities ordered that all the people who
possess a television and video set must show two video tapes [generally,
the only people who own such equipment are those who run public cinema
houses]. If they don't show these video tapes, the authorities will seize
the
video equipment. My mother told me to go and see these video tapes. One
tape shows Karen soldiers and Burmese soldiers killing each other with
many casualties on both sides [this is to promote the new SLORC line
calling everyone to "exchange arms for peace", i.e. surrender, as shown
on TV Myanmar and in the New Light of Myanmar]. The second one was
the surrendering ceremony of Karen soldiers [Tha Muh Heh and some
troops from KNLA #16 Battalion, when Tha Muh Heh went on his knees
before SLORC General Maung Aye and Maung Aye walked on the Karen
flag]. I don't know the name of the commander. In that tape, I saw a lot of
weapons surrendered. There was one Karen Buddhist monk shown in
Kyaikdon, and it said that when somebody wants to surrender to the
SLORC, he will inform the SLORC for them.
Q: Is your village a Karen village?
A: Yes, mainly Karen. Mostly Buddhist. Only 10 Burmese households
are living there. Nobody surrendered to the SLORC in my village.
Q: Is DKBA in your village?
A: Usually it is the SLORC Army that comes to our village - sometimes
even a SLORC Intelligence man, disguised as a blanket-seller. Those with
the yellow headband [DKBA] usually come and ask for money, chicken
and food. The headman cannot collect everything for them so he gives the
things himself [from his own possessions, not from the villagers].
Q: What is the feeling in your village?
A: At night time we have to hide and sleep in other places. We do not
sleep in our own houses. Sometimes the SLORC troops and the Karen
soldiers are shooting at each other, and sometimes they rob our village.
Q: When you fled, did you see many soldiers along the way?
A: I saw many Burmese soldiers along the Thanbyuzayat-Three Pagodas
Pass road but I didn't see any Karen soldiers. The Burmese soldiers
collected 1,000 Kyats from each [passenger] truck. They also shot a
passenger truck. I saw two burnt cars and one bullock cart along the road,
on the way to Thanbyuzayat near xxxx. In my truck there were 4 soldiers
but in all the others there were many more soldiers. So I asked a soldier,
"Oh Uncle! Why are those cars all burnt?" "We shot them", he replied.
Then I asked: "Why did you shoot?" "We shot at the Karen soldiers.
Unfortunately some civilians were also wounded. We couldn't give them
treatment so we shot them", he explained to me. Then I spoke to an old
man: "Oh Uncle! How many were killed?" He said, "An old woman was
shot in the back of her head and died on the spot. Some of her relatives
also died."
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- [END OF PART 5 - SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTING FOR PART 6] -
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