DVB:缅军被控使用化学武器潘基文对果敢表示担忧

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据总部在挪威的缅甸民主之声报道，它们日前访问了果敢联军新闻发言人林先生。

林先生说，最近几天缅军继续对联军发起进攻，它们使用了大炮、空袭和化学武器。进攻主要发生在老街东北方向六公里到十公里的山中，石国林、石洞水、小芦场一带。缅军先用大炮轰击我们的阵地，然后步兵开始冲锋，然后再炮轰，步后再冲锋，这个过程反复发生。大概有1500发炮弹落在我们阵地周围，其中大概有五种不同的化学炮弹，这些炮弹爆炸后会散发出与众不同的烟雾，有奇怪的香味，我们的士兵吸入后有恶心和呕吐的现象发生。

林先生说，缅军33师在近几天的进攻遭到巨大的损失，它们差不多有90多人死亡，我们估计实际数字可能高达140人，另有200人以上受伤。而我们这边则有两人阵亡，12人受伤。DVB表示并没有第三方渠道来证实林先生的这些数字和说法，而缅甸政府方面最近也没有发布果敢战事的消息。

周五，在纽约举行的缅甸合作工作小组会议上，联合国秘书长潘基文在讲话中也提到了果敢战事。

他说，掸邦北部和克钦邦发生的战事已经给平民造成了巨大的痛苦，他对果敢地区发生的激烈武装冲突深感不安，这已经严重影响到了当地人民的生活，也危害到了该地区的长期稳定，需要保持人道主义援助渠道的畅通，以保证及时对受难民众提供援助。潘基文还表示不希望看到果敢战事影响到缅甸全国和平进程。

The Burmese army has launched a series of attacks on Kokang positions just outside Laogai in recent days using artillery, air strikes and chemical weapons, according to a rebel spokesperson.

Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) spokesman Tun Myat Lin told DVB on Friday that Burmese government forces launched offensives against elevated Kokang positions in the mountains around the districts of Xioalujiang, Xikaolin, Xidonshui and Jixuara, which are all within six to ten kilometers north and northeast of the former Kokang stronghold of Laogai [also spelt Laukkai].

“The Tatmadaw [Burmese army] began shelling our positions with mortars since well before sunrise [on 23 April],” he said. “Then at dawn, using heavy manpower, they attacked us with ground troops. They could not overwhelm our bases, so they retreated and restarted the heavy artillery attacks. This happened several times.

“Among the 1,500 shells they fired at our outposts, about five contained chemicals. The smoke from them was different from other shells: it was bright with a fragrant smell. Our soldiers who inhaled it got nauseous and vomited.”

Tun Myat Lin said the Burmese forces of Light Infantry Division 33 incurred heavy losses in the clashes.

“We lost two men and had 12 injured, but the casualties on the other side were huge,” he said. “We estimate that more than 90 Burmese soldiers were killed, though it could be as high as 140. About 200 were injured.”

DVB could not independently confirm the MNDAA claims. The Burmese government has made no statement about the latest series of battles around Laogai.

The Kokang spokesman said the MNDAA expects an intensification of hostilities as government forces continue to send reinforcements into the area.

On Friday in New York, speaking at a meeting of the Partnership Group on Myanmar, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made reference to the Kokang conflict in his speech.

“Meanwhile, ongoing clashes in Kachin and northern Shan States have caused immense suffering to civilians,” he said. “The clashes in Kokang are also deeply disturbing in terms of the toll of lives and destruction, as well as their implications for the longer term stability of the region. Humanitarian actors will need unimpeded access to provide much needed aid in a timely fashion. The tensions arising from these clashes must not jeopardize the larger peace process.”

Since fighting broke out in early February, tens of thousands of residents have been displaced, fleeing over the border to China to southwards to the Burmese city of Lashio. Tensions have heightened between Burma and China over the conflict, with Burma offering an apology for the accidental deployment of a bomb over the border on 13 March, which killed five Chinese citizens.

Until the outbreak of hostilities this year, the Kokang Special Region had enjoyed a period of relative peace. The MNDAA, under the leadership of Peng Jiasheng, enjoyed two decades of ceasefire with the government. This calm faltered in 2009 when armed groups came under pressure to transform into a paramilitary Border Guard Force under the control of the Burmese military.

The MNDAA resisted this move, and tensions with the Burmese military increased, purportedly exacerbated by the MNDAA’s alleged links with the drug trade. Peng Jiasheng was soon ousted in a government-backed coup, and has since lived in exile in China. The Burmese government accuse him of being behind the recent outbreak in fighting.