Mizzima News

Chiang Mai – The Karen National Union, one of Burma's longest operating ethnic insurgents, claimed it had recaptured a camp, which it lost a few days ago to a joint force of its splinter group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Burmese Army.

The ethnic Karen rebels of the KNU on Monday lost its Waylaykhe based camp in Kawkareik Township in Karen State, during a joint attack launched by the DKBA, another Karen rebel group that broke away from KNU, and the Burmese Army.

But the fire fight was far from over and on Tuesday, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of KNU, launched a counter attack and reclaimed its outpost, a KNU leader said.   

"We were able to reclaim all that we lost. We took about half of the area by noon yesterday and by night fall they [DKBA & Burmese Army] retreated, so everything is ours again," Pado Saw Hla Ngwe, information in-charge of the KNU central committee told Mizzima.

The recapture was only possible after fighting the whole day. The KNLA had about 60 soldiers fighting against nearly 80 DKBA soldiers through out the day on Tuesday, he said.

"The Burmese Army battalion 284 also helped the DKBA and fired at us from the hills. We had no casualties but we don't know how many casualties the enemy suffered," Pado Saw Hla Ngwe said.

On Monday, a KNLA soldier was killed when the DKBA and the Burmese Army jointly launched an attack on the KNLA outpost. But it is not known how many casualties the joint force suffered.

Waylaykhe outpost is located about 45 kilometres from the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sod. Thailand is said to have beefed up security along the border.

DKBA has several times joined the Burmese Army in it is campaign against the KNLA.

According to KNU statistics, in 2007 the KNLA and the Burmese Army had more than 1,000 clashes including minor skirmishes along the Thai-Burmese border.

According to the Free Burma Rangers, a volunteer group helping refugees and internally displaced persons along the Thai-Burmese border, more than 20,000 Karen villagers were displaced in 2007, as a result of the clashes between the KNLA and Burmese Army.