Burma

DKBA Ceasefire Breaks Down

By SAW YAN NAING / THE IRRAWADDY Thursday, February 23, 2012

DKBA Brigade 5 leaders, including Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe (black shirt), pose for a photograph at a base in eastern Burma. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

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The three-month-old ceasefire agreement between the Burmese government and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has broken down as hostilities flare in Pa-an District, southern Karen State.

Sources close to the DKBA said that fighting broke out on Feb. 19 following a raid on a DKBA military base by a joint force of Burmese army and border guard force (BGF) troops. The joint force allegedly seized a cache of weapons including AK-47s, AR-15 rifles and RPGs belonging to DKBA Brigade 5.

The Brigade 5 unit, led by Lt-Col Po Bi, responded later that same day with an attack on the joint force in Myaing Gyi Nyu Township in Pa-an District, killing three and injuring two soldiers.

Then, after a lull in fighting but with tensions remaining high, DKBA leaders reportedly visited the Burmese army-BGF base in Pa-an on Wednesday to negotiate the return of the confiscated weapons.

Brig-Gen Johnny, a commander with the main Karen rebel group, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the DKBA leaders “asked for the joint force to return their weapons, but the Tatmadaw [Burmese government forces] would not return them. That's why the DKBA declared a breakdown in the ceasefire.”

A soldier belonging to the DKBA, however, said that negotiations with the Burmese authorities are continuing in Pa-an, the capital of Karen State.

The DKBA's Brigade 5 is led by charismatic Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe. It launched a deadly attack against government troops in the border town of Myawaddy in November 2010 in response to government attempts to persuade it to join the BGF. However, it reached a formal ceasefire agreement in November 2011 with a government peace delegation led by negotiator Aung Thaung.

The DKBA split from its mother organization, the KNLA’s political wing, the Karen National Union (KNU), in 1995.

The KNU also recently signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, and plans to hold another round of talks in March.

COMMENTS (9)

Oo Maung Gyi Wrote:

25/02/2012

Trust, transperrentcy, respect can lead to peace at the same time sincerity is the most important for unity. Therefore what Aung San Suu Kyi refered her father's voices as a model to get peace and unity within the country. Burma can be united if we al create repect each other.

Dan BW Wrote:

25/02/2012

@Kyaw Ye;
Every one has his/her own experience of the civil war of the last over 60 years in Burma. However, the number of the people who suffered because of the armed ethnic groups is nothing compare to the number of the people who suffered because oh the Burmese government. The best and the only solution to solve the civil war between the ethnic armed groups and the Burmese government is to recognize and to follow the path of the Panglong Agreement which was broken by the various Burmese governments. If you don't trust it, just try it for a year, you will see how peacefully the country will become.

Karen Wrote:

25/02/2012

We, Karen people get international media attention with our stupidity. We fight each other base on our model differences. We were all maintained one value and race when we came from Mogolia. But after making our home in Burma/Kawthulay, Karen people picked up Buddhism and later on different category of Christianity. Some of Karen are still sticking to traditional belief. Now became difference in our second and third generation in term of our model values. We divide ourselves base on our model values and fight each other. Why are we so stupid..? Don't blame Burmese...it is their business to divide Karen and genocide Karen. So bad that even highly educated Karen people still don't know, how to get the right diagnosis of our own disease to treat ourselves.

We always pray "Maw Kasayae Sho Kay Pa Ka Yeaw Po". Are we really getting blessing?

Ursus Wrote:

25/02/2012

Kyaw ye, without Karen freedom fighters there will be no Karen Peoples anymore. Don't you understand that the Tatmadaw is advised to eliminate the Karens? This is a genocide committed by the Tatmadaw. Nowadays we believe that Thein Sein and the regime in Naypidaw doesn't control the Tatmadaw anymore. Thy are in fact the rebels, not the KNLA and not DKBA.

khar Wrote:

24/02/2012

One phrase that best describe Bamar and Buddhist is "Bamar Lu Myo Buddha Bar Thar, Lu Laine Lu Nyar, Kyaut Kyit Youte Mar" or in english " a buddhist bamar is a bamar that is not only a liar but a brutal terrorist."

Free Kachin Wrote:

24/02/2012

If you are a pro Burmese government person, you should not read the articles and comment on irrawaddy.org becaue irrawaddy.org is a pro-democracy media group that supports and promotes democracy in Burma. Also, if you want to say good things about Burmese government and say bad things about ethnics minorities, you should not read and comment on irrawaddy.org as well.

William Minz Wrote:

24/02/2012

Kyaw Ye,
So sad that you said "People Please don't forget WITHOUT Karen rebels, no one will die, no one will suffer, and everyone will be happy plus Karen state..." You think people have been happy with brutal Bamar military rule? Why 88, 2007, let alone what happened in the past? Critical and analytical thinking would be helpful for you to be able to see why it has happened just after some months of ceasefire.

Free Kachin Wrote:

24/02/2012

Fool DKBA, haven't you learned your lessons from the past? How did you get into Burmese's trap to sign peace agreement? Did you know that Burmeses are never trustworthy. You can either fight for your freedom or surrender to Burmese. There is no such thing as cease fire agreement or peace agreement with the Burmese government. KIA fight for Kachin freedom. DKBA, follow the steps of KIA.

Kyaw ye Wrote:

24/02/2012

These Karens can't be trusted, they are the REBELS who started this Civil War after all, after Independence when we HAD DEMOCRACY. U Nay Win came later wards due to the effects of the war.

The Karen rebels gave so much trouble to traders and merchants. Last battle at Myawaddy, they burned houses and shops for no reason. My friends' lost some of their stores in the battle. I hope they laid down their weapons soon.

People Please don't forget WITHOUT Karen rebels, no one will die, no one will suffer, and everyone will be happy plus Karen state can be developed by Prosperous TRADE, like Musae, Lashio, Taunggyi, Bago, etc.