Hong Kong
Corpses piled high next to a rice field in northern Myanmar show the bloody consequence of a hot-blooded, uncoordinated attack by villagers on battle-hardened junta troops.
Eight months after deposing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, Myanmar’s military regime finds itself mired in a bloody stalemate, unable to crush fighters resisting its rule who are themselves not strong enough to topple a powerful army.
“We need to be wise with our timing and plan,” a member of the local “People’s Defence Force” told AFP after the September 25 clash in the small northwestern village of Gone Nyin.
Similar clashes between anti-coup militias and junta troops have escalated in recent weeks, along with bomb blasts and targeted killings of those suspected of collaborating with the regime, leading to bloody reprisals on both sides.
Local media last week reported a whole family — including a 12-year-old child — had been shot dead for allegedly helping troops during a search for protesters.
Dissidents have also attacked and disabled cell towers belonging to a military-owned company to deprive the junta of revenue.
A parallel government made up largely of lawmakers from Suu Kyi’s party has also sought to fan the flames, calling for a “defensive war” against junta troops and assets.
Villagers have accused soldiers of torching their homes and massacring their neighbours in acts of vengeance directed at those resisting military rule.
Almost the entire population of the western town of Thantlang fled after troops fired artillery shells following clashes with anti-junta fighters last month, a 50-year-old resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Terrified inhabitants had used buckets of water to fight a blaze that started after a shell hit a house and threatened to consume others in the neighbourhood, he said.
The fire service was not working because the wife of the head of the fire department was hit by a shell fragment during the fighting, he said, with the tide turning thanks to a sudden change in the weather.
“Due to the help of God, it rained that day,” he said. Many made the arduous journey across rivers and hills to cross into India for the relative safety of a refugee camp.—AFP
