De verzetsgroep Kachin Independence Army (KIA) heeft op 23 september het vuur geopend op een helicopter van het Burmese leger. Volgens getuigen vloog de helicopter dichtbij  het hoofdkwartier van de poltieke partij van de Kachin Independce Organisation (KIO) in Laiza, Kachin staat.

Lees hier verder voor het Engelstalige artikel uit The Irrawaddy

Kachin Troops Fire at Junta Helicopter

By LAWI WENG     Friday, September 24, 2010
Troops from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) shot at a Burmese military helicopter that flew close to the party headquarters of its political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), in Laiza, Kachin State on Thursday, according to sources.

Awng Wa, a Kachin living near the Sino-Burmese border, said, “I heard the sound of the helicopter, but didn't hear the shooting. Later I found out that KIA troops fired three times at the helicopter when it approached the party headquarters in Laiza.”

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, KIO Deputy General Secretary and Spokesperson Sin Wa, said, “A helicopter from the military junta flew near our headquarters at one pm on Thursday.” But he could not confirm that KIO troops fired at the helicopter.

This was the second time a junta helicopter flew near KIO headquarters in Laiza. The first time was on Sept. 11, but no gunfire was directed at the helicopter on that occasion, Kachin sources said.

The KIO/KIA is an armed ethnic cease-fire group that signed a military cease-fire agreement with the junta in 1994 and controls subsantial portions of Kachin State. Tension has increased between the Burmese military junta and the KIO/KIA since it rejected Naypyidaw's border guard force (BGF) proposal.

“After we refused to serve in the border guard force, we always watch their [junta troops] activities closely because our military bases are near their bases. Our troops are always on alert because security is very important to us, and we have deployed more troops in areas we control,”
said Sin Wa.

A statement released by the KIO after the party congress meeting at the end of August said: “We will continue to engage in dialogue and negotiation with the government toward a permanent peace. We will transform our party depending on the situation and the needs of the time.”

KIO leaders said they will continue to pursue implementation of the Panglong Agreement, which was signed in 1947 by Kachin and other ethnic leaders and proposed a multi-ethnic union with equal rights for ethnic minority groups.

The Burmese junta previously set a final deadline of Sept. 1 for the KIO to disarm and threatened to use force and outlaw the organization after the deadline.

Some observers, however, believe that although the junta has threatened the KIO it will not take any military action before the Nov. 7 elections.
The junta may, however, attack the KIO/KIA after the elections.

Meanwhile, the junta has forbidden KIO/KIA members from holding weapons or dressing in uniform when traveling in townships. The authorities have also tightened security and deployed more checkpoints due to concerns that KIO/KIA members will disturb the election.

The Irrawaddy