General Saw Lah Pwe dies in Bago Hospital

15 March 2016
General Saw Lah Pwe dies in Bago Hospital
General Saw Lah Pwe, the commander-in-chief of the Klo Htoo Baw Karen Organisation/Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (KKO/DKBA), talks to media during a press conference at DKBA's Kawthumweke front line camp, in Myawaddy, Karen State, Myanmar, 10 May 2012. Photo: Nyein Chan Naing/EPA

General Saw Lah Pwe (aka Nakhamwe) the commander-in-chief of the Klo Htoo Baw Karen Organisation/Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (KKO/DKBA) died in Bago Hospital yesterday afternoon after suffering from throat cancer.
The group, which originally split from the Karen National Union (KNU) on 21 December 1994, was thrown into the international spotlight on 7 November 2010 after taking control of parts of Myawaddy on the Thai-Burma border.
Refusing to accept the Government’s Border Guard Force proposal fighting continued with intermittent clashes continuing until it finally signed a Union Level ceasefire agreement on 11 December 2011. Most recently the group signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement on 15 October 2015.
His funeral will take place on 19 March at the KKO/DKBA’s Soneseemyaing HQ.