Karen National Union denies the Burmese government’s bombing accusations

Loa Htaw, IMNA
14 May 2010

Today the Karen National Union (KNU) has denied the Burmese government’s numerous accusations regarding the several recent bomb blasts.

The latest accusation was on the most recent bomb blast, on May 9th, in Three Pagoda Pass (TPP) township at a Burmese military check-point on the Thailand-Burma border.

KNU general secretary Naw Zipporrah Sein said, “The accusations are nonsense. We have no policy to do such things which affect people and we never attack people.”

According to the May 12th New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the two bombers, Aung Aung and Maung Phyu, reported that they were in fact hired by an official from Brigade No. 6 of the KNU.

The two bombers were seriously wounded and were treated in the TPP hospital. Maung Phyu lost his left hand and hurt his left thigh, while Aung Aung hurt his left flank.

A New Mon State Party official believes that the two bombers have been detained by the Burmese military in the TPP township. They were both taken somewhere unknown after a few hours of treatment in the hospital on the night of the bomb blast. They both used to work for the Karen Peace Front which surrendered to the Burmese military government in 1997.

The government has accused KNU of bombings at least three times since the Rangoon bomb blasts in April 2010, which killed more than 10 people and wounded over 70 during water festival. The latest accusation was on the bombing in TPP Township.

In TPP township, there are several ethnic groups in addition to the KNU, which have been fighting with the Burmese government for their ethnic rights. These include the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), the Karen Peace Front (KPF) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP).