Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Scores of buildings burn in Burma town
Activists, media cite shelling by troops; government blames insurgents
BANGKOK — More than 160 buildings in a town in northwestern Burma, including at least two churches, have been destroyed by fires caused by shelling from government troops, according to reports from local media and activists Saturday.
The destruction of parts of the town of Thantlang in Chin state appeared to be another escalation in the struggle between Burma’s military-installed government and forces opposed to it. The army seized power in February from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, but it has failed to quell the widespread resistance.
A government spokesman denied “nonsense allegations being reported in the country-destroying media” and blamed insurgents for instigating the fighting and setting the fires.
Human-rights groups and U.N. experts recently warned that the government is planning a major offensive in the country’s northwest, including Chin state, along with the regions of Magway and Sagaing.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the fire, which started early Friday and burned through the night, according to reports. Thantlang had already been largely abandoned due to previous attacks by government soldiers.
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that military authorities adopted in 1989. Some nations, such as the United States and Britain, have refused to adopt the name change.
The Chin Human Rights Organization issued a statement saying the fires in Thantlang had died down by Saturday morning, after as many as 200 houses may have been destroyed.
“Most of the structures on the main street, which has shop stalls and all kinds of businesses, have been destroyed. There is nothing left to salvage,” said the statement, signed by the group’s deputy executive director, Salai Za Uk Ling. “The manner in which the fire was burning indicates that it was not just the incendiary rocket fires but also deliberately torching of houses and structures manually.”
The defense force said the shelling began after fighting broke out when it tried to prevent government soldiers from looting a house in the town.
In a phone interview Saturday night on state television MRTV, government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said the events began when members of the PDF — or People’s Defense Forces, as the local militia is generally known — attacked security forces, who returned fire. He said the insurgents took cover in houses in the town and set fires as they fled, keeping government reinforcements from putting out the flames by shooting at them.
He added that it was not possible to send firefighting resources from the state capital, Hakha, because a bridge on the road connecting the towns had been blown up on Oct. 21.
“It’s needless to say who blew up the bridge. These videos can be found on country-destroying media,” said Zaw Min Thin, in a reference to video that circulated widely on social video showing several explosive charges being detonated on the span. He described the sequence of events as “a deliberate plot.”
The statement from the Chin Human Rights Organization expressed concern that what happened may represent just the beginning of a major government offensive known as “Operation Anawrahta.” The government has not acknowledged such a plan.
“The high number of troops being sent to Chin state in recent days and weeks has been truly unprecedented. They have brought with them destruction and death,” said the human-rights group. It called for urgent action on the part of the U.N. Security Council “to help prevent mass atrocities before they happen.”