BKK Post, March 12, 1998 .CROSS-BOR

[burma@xxxxxxxxxx]

March 12, 1998 .CROSS-BORDER RAID 

Two killed as Karens hit refugee camp

Army warns DKBA of hot pursuit in future 
Supamart Kasem/AP 
Mae Sot, Tak

Pro-Rangoon Karen guerrillas attacked a refugee camp on Thai soil 
yesterday, killing two and wounding 27 others while leaving some 9,000 
refugees without shelter.

The attack prompted the army to issue a warning its forces would in the 
future make a hot pursuit into Burma if guerrillas of the Rangoon-backed 
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a group which broke away from the 
anti-Rangoon Karen National Union, intrude into Thailand again.

The Foreign Ministry also protested against the cross-border raid.

The warning was issued by the Third Army chief-of-staff, Chamlong 
Phothong, after some 150 DKBA guerrillas attacked a Karen refugee camp 
at Ban Huay Kalok and set fire to it.

Maj-Gen Chamlong said at a press conference the attack was a violation 
of Thail sovereignty.

Also present at the press conference were Naresuan Force commander 
Maj-Gen Chalor Thongsala, Tak Governor Phongpayom Wasapooti and Col 
Chatchapat Yamngarmriab, chairman of the Local Thai-Burmese Border 
Committee.

In the future, Thai military forces would not limit their action to 
driving intruders to the border but would continue chasing them into 
Burma, said Maj-Gen Chamlong.

After the attack, the intruders crossed the Moei River about 2 a.m. into 
Burma from an area north of Huay Kalok Camp, he said.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned Burma's Minister Counsellor to 
Thailand Khin Maung Oo to receive an official protest.

Ministry spokesman Thinnakorn Kannasutra said the protest letter called 
on Rangoon to investigate the Huay Kalok raid and also an incident in 
Mae Sariang district of Mae Hong Son last month in which a forest ranger 
was killed and a police outpost was razed to the ground. Rangoon was 
told to take appropriate measures to prevent a recurrence.

The ministry further asked the Burmese government to compensate the 
families of Thai victims, and to do its utmost to secure the release of 
three Thais captured during the Mae Sariang incident.

Mr Phongpayom said the authorities were thinking of relocating Karen 
refugees from Huay Kalok away from the border, probably to Mae La Luang 
Camp in Tha Song Yang district. The matter would be discussed with 
concerned government agencies and non-government organisations in the 
next few days, he added.

The DKBA guerrillas started pounding the camp with mortar fire shortly 
after midnight before they crossed the border to attack the camp 
yesterday.

Thousands of refugees fled in panic and the raiders then torched the 
camp, destroying more than 1,400 shacks and making about 7,000 refugees 
homeless.

"The whole camp was blazing and we jumped into a trench," said a 
68-year-old Karen woman who identified herself only as "Jewel".

"We heard the [DKBA] soldiers saying 'We told you to go back to Burma'," 
she added.

Ner Dah, a KNU official, said Rangoon should stop killing Karen refugees 
and burning their homes "if they are really serious about peace talks".

"As long as they do this, I don't see why we should make peace. This 
shows the international community that the Burmese are not sincere about 
peace," he said.

Saw Min Thu, a camp official, said the raiders were DKBA members. Armed 
with M-79 grenade launchers, M-16 and AK-47 assault rifles, the rebels 
divided into three groups to attack the refugee camp, he said.

The first group managed to sneak into the camp to loot the dwellings, 
while the other two surrounded the camp and pummelled it with gunfire 
and grenades before setting it ablaze and retreating across the river, 
he said.

The attack killed a seven-year-old Karen boy and a 27-year-old Karen 
woman and wounded 27 other refugees, 15 of them seriously.

Authorities rushed the wounded to a hospital in Mae Sot district and 
evacuated thousands of the homeless to a Buddhist temple and a school, 
sources said.

Strong winds and chaos in the refugee camp hampered efforts to control 
the blaze, which eventually destroyed all dwellings.

The attack prompted Maj-Gen Chalor to set up a special task force and 
call for reinforcements to guard the border.

The camp is located only eight kilometres from the border. It has been 
attacked twice by DKBA guerrillas whose headquarters is located just 
across the Moei River at Kawmoora, a former KNU stronghold. The first 
attack was in January last year.

The camp, set up in 1984, housed some 8,000 refugees loyal to the KNU 
before yesterday's attack.



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