Just recently there have been a number of severe attacks on and close to the border here.
Since the 21st September the DKBA (Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, who are allies with the Burma Army) have attacked a number of Karen villages inside Burma. The villagers are now not allowed to leave without permission. Villagers are being used as forced labour and minesweepers. So far, four people have stepped on landmines - two have died from their injuries. Over 250 people in surrounding areas have fled to the border near Mae Sot, seeking safety. More are expected to arrive in the next week or so. Partners has been able to immediately supply rice, medicine, knives, cooking pots, mats, blankets, mosquito nets and stoves to those who are in desperate need of help. photo: internally displaced people in Karen State.
One of the villages attacked is home to a good friend of Partners, Na Na. She ran a clinic there which Partners supports. When the DKBA attacked they took all of her medicine and materials. Na Na managed to escape the attack, but because of safety issues, she cannot yet return to her village.
We have also heard confirmed reports that DKBA and Burma Army soldiers are crossing the border into Thailand to carry out attacks on Karen villages. Another good friend of ours, Pastor Edmund, has had to go into hiding with his family because of DKBA presence in their village, which is in Thailand. On the 11th October, the DKBA and Burma Army soldiers burned down the home of a KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army) colonol's home in Thailand and laid landmines nearby. When the Thai army checked out the house, a Thai soldier stepped on the landmine and was killed.
It is a very messy and difficult situation along the border. Please pray for us as we seek to get aid and relief to those who need it most. Also pray that the DKBA and Burma Army soldiers will stop violently attacking innocent Karen people.
The DKBA is a breakaway group of the KNLA. The KNLA is the main Karen resistance army for the Karen and they seek to protect their people. The DKBA has allied itself with the Burma Army, the military wing of the SPDC regime.