Burmese soldiers burn plantations to punish suspected rebel supporters
February 26, 2008
Mi Kyae Goe, IMNA,
On February 22nd Burmese Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 31 burned twenty plantations in Ye township, Southern Mon state. The fire was started after soldiers could not capture Mon rebels thought to be in the area.
The rebels are members of the Monland Restoration Party (MRP), formerly the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party (HRP), which separated itself from the New Mon State Party (NMSP) after the NMSP signed a ceasefire with the regime in 1995.
The soldiers set fire to the plantation using only a lighter, but the plantations were so dry the fire spread quickly, said Nai Chan Done, the MRP operations officer. Most of the plantations produced lemons, nipa palm, areca palm, pepper, pomelo, and lime.
For as long as the MRP has been fighting the regime, the regime has been targeting villages suspected of supporting the rebels in an attempt to cut the group off from its support networks. “Not only did they burn down the villagers’ plantations, but they also beat up some villagers,” Nai Chan Done added.
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