Ethnic KNU Armed Forces To Intercept 700 Sacks Of Rice At The Border, Myanmar's Military Threatened Starvation And Isolated

The rice truck that was intercepted by the KNU. (Twitter / @ NickArk1)

JAKARTA - The ethnic group armed with the Karen National Union (KNU) announced that its 5th Brigade military wing succeeded in isolating and ensuring that no food was supplied to soldiers of the Myanmar military regime in Papun District, Karen State.

The KNU explained that their 5th Brigade had successfully blocked the exit and entry routes to Papun, isolated the military regime's troops there and made food supplies and other necessities unable to be delivered.

The Myanmar military regime is trying to overcome this blockage by buying 700 sacks of rice and oil from Thailand, trying to take advantage of the Salween River on the Myanmar-Thailand border.

The rice and oil have been unloaded on the side of Myanmar's Salween River since last weekend. However, it cannot be accessed by soldiers of the Myanmar military regime.

"We forbid them to send sacks of rice. If they bring rice that goes against our orders, we will do what we are allowed to do in our area. We want to get rid of the water before the fire starts. We take precautions to prevent the conflict escalating. If something happened because they did not comply with our request, we will not be held responsible, "said KNU Brigade 5 spokesman Maj. Saw Kler Doh.

The KNU said they blocked food deliveries for not supporting the Myanmar military regime's coup, as well as the brutal actions that left hundreds of anti-coup protesters dead. In addition, 500 Karen people are currently affected by the conflict in Papun District.

The KNU 5th Brigade issued warnings in Burmese and Thai saying they would not tolerate anyone bringing food to soldiers of the Myanmar military regime.

"Usually, they send food supplies (for troops in Papun) at times like this. But this year, they staged a coup and oppressed the people. They are not the legitimate government. The military dictatorship will survive if they can keep their troops in our territory. "Therefore, we prevented them from sending food. The people did not support them and we supported the people," said Major Saw Kler Doh.

The Tatmadaw made no public statements regarding the cut off of food supplies in Papun District. The military also did not ask the KNU to allow food to be delivered.

The Thai military denies supplying rice to units of Myanmar's military forces. They make sure every food passes through the border, part of normal trade.

"The Thai army does not supply the Myanmar army and there has been no contact from the Myanmar army asking for help or asking for assistance from us," Major General Amnat Srimak, commander of the Naresuan Force of the Thai army said in a statement.

"If there is anything, I think there is regular trade at regular border crossings. We do not block this, if the action does not violate the law and follows customs procedures," he added.

The stretch of the Salween River in Papun is under the control of the armed ethnic KNU Brigade 5 and is home to KNU outposts, Karen villages and camps for internally displaced persons, as well as the military outpost of the Myanmar military regime.

Locals say rice and oil are not part of regular trade between the two countries, but are only supplied to the Tatmadaw unit.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news surrounding the Myanmar military coup by tapping on this link.