the nation: Myanmar denies role in

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar denies role in raid on refugees

posted at 19:20 hrs (Bangkok time) 

BANGKOK, March 12 -- Myanmar's military government Thursday angrily denied US accusations
that it was waging a ''campaign of terror'' against ethnic minorities in Thai refugee camps after a
violent attack this week. 

In a terse statement received here, a top official in Yangon's State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) rejected accusations from the US State Department that the junta was behind
Wednesday's attack on Karen refugees. 

US State Department spokesman James Rubin Wednesday condemned the attack by
Myanmar-based troops on civilian refugees in Thailand and called on Myanmar (Burma), to halt the
''campaign of terror and violence.'' 

But a senior official in Yangon's (Rangoon's) military council Thursday said the United States was
speaking prematurely and did not have all the facts. 

''Regretfully, the US State Department spokesman has been reading out a statement prepared by
those who don't have any idea of what they are talking about,'' he told AFP. 

Troops believed to be from the Myanmar-based pro-SPDC Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA) crossed into northern Thailand Wednesday and attacked the Huay Kalok camp, killing at
least one woman and a child and setting fire to more than 1,000 dwellings. 

The Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) and the Karen National Union (KNU) Thursday also said
Myanmar government troops were involved in the assault along with members of the DKBA. 

Huay Kalok, one of three Karen refugee camps in Mae Sot district of Tak province, houses almost
10,000 refugees loyal to the KNU General Bo Mya, a staunch opponent of the DKBA and the
Myanmar government. 

''A month before this attack three SPDC army battalions had moved close to the border to plan and
support the attack,'' the KNU said in a press release, adding three refugees died in the melee. 

''We absolutely condemn the SPDC, the group principally responsible for this horrible and
outrageous attack.'' 

The KNU said Christian church buildings and store houses were among the raiders' targets at the
camp, which had been subjected to a similar attack in January 1997. 

The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR) said it was ''deeply distressed''
by the incident and had sent a team to assess the situation. 

A UNHCR statement Thursday said the UN had urged the Thai government to take measures to
guarantee the security of refugees near the Thai-Myanmar border. 

Thai security forces guarding the camp said they engaged the raiders in a small arms battle but there
were no reports of other casualties. 

The Thai military denied accusations it did nothing to prevent the attack against the unarmed
refugees, which left about 9000 people homeless. 

A US aid group and the KRC Thursday slammed the Thai Third Army for alleged inacation, despite
having at least two hours warning that an attack was immanent. 

''The attackers fired automatic rifles and some rifle-launch grenades. There are about 20 wounded
refugees, some by bullets and some by fire. One pregnant woman and child were burnt to death,''
the KRC said in a statement. 

''Apparently there was no resistence by the Thai troops guarding the camp.'' 

The Myanmar government in exile -- the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) -- in a
statement Thursday called the raid a ''serious violation of the sovereignty of Thailand and a direct
insult to the Thai government and the Thai people.'' 

The Washington-based US Committee for Refugees said Thai troops were believed to have ''done
nothing to intervene.'' 

But Third Army chief of staff Maj-Gen Chamlong Phothong told AFP the Thai guards did
everything they could. 

''It's not true that we didn't fight back. But during the attack we were limited in our ability to shoot
back because of the number of refugees fleeing the scene,'' he said. 

He said the military and provincial authorities had agreed to close the camp within a week and move
the refugees to safer camps further from the border, one of which already had about 13,000
refugees. 

Refugees who fled the assault were now being cared for by the provincial Red Cross and
international agencies. 

Karen refugees living in Thailand have been repeatedly threatened with violence in an effort to get
them to return to Myanmar and give up their resistance against Yangon forces. 

The Thai foreign ministry spokesman Wednesday lodged a request for an investigation with the
Myanmar embassy. (AFP)