Influx of Wa, Shan likely as war looms

More than 50,000 Wa and Shan villagers are expected to flee to Thailand as several battalions of Burmese troops have moved closer to a stronghold of the United Wa State Army along the Thai-Burmese border in northern Chiang Rai.

Burmese soldiers with heavy weapons, including mortars and RPG rocket launchers, have been deployed to an area opposite the UWSA's stronghold since Wednesday, said a source at the Shan State Army (SSA) yesterday.

If their stronghold was attacked, the Wa troops would be forced to retreat into an area near the SSA's military base, said the source who served as a military officer at the anti-Rangoon SSA.

The source predicted that Burma's offensive against ethnic rebels would force more than 50,000 Shan and Wa villagers to flee over Thailand's northern border.

The Third Army's Pha Muang task force has reportedly ordered its troops to keep a close watch on Burma's ethnic minority groups and be on full alert for possible incursions from the fighting.

Thai villagers living in the border areas prone to fighting would be moved to a safer area if and when attacks begin.

Col Yod Serk, leader of the SSA, said Burma wanted to declare war on all rebel groups following its recent offensive against the ethnic Kokang rebel group, who call themselves the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).

Burma's next target was the area in Mong La border town before attacking the UWSA in Burma's southern border opposite Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces, said Col Yod Serk.

His army would be the last target of Burma's attacks, he added.

He believed the military offensive was inevitable as Burma wanted to create unrest as justification for delaying the next general elections in the middle of next year.

A source said Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) had recently sent a letter to UWSA leaders in Pang Sang town demanding it hand over Peng Jiasheng, a leader of the MNDAA, the UWSA's allies, and several other leading members of the rebel group.

So far, there has been no reply from the UWSA, said the source.

Mr Peng, wanted by Burma on charges of operating an illegal firearms factory and producing illicit drugs, has reportedly fled the Burmese junta's hunt to an area controlled by the UWSA.

Reports that Burma has deployed troops near the UWSA's stronghold sparked fears among Wa villagers that fighting would soon erupt.

Several thousand villagers had abandoned their villages in recent days, said the source.

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