Thursday, 30 June 2011 11:37 Kun Chan
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – About 20 gunmen set two passenger buses on fire on the Ye-Thanbyuzayat Road in Mon State and took a total of six drivers and conductors hostage at around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, according to witnesses.
The gunmen took the six hostages and set fire to the Yazamin and Shweli Yadanar buses near Thayaaye village, which is located 30 miles north of Ye.
“They stopped about 20 vehicles and then ordered all the passengers to get off the buses. Then they set fire to the buses, but they did nothing to the cars and passengers,” a monk told Mizzima.
He said that there were about 20 gunmen; most were armed and some had heavy weapons, the monk said.
A villager from Thakkaw village in Thanbyuzayat Township told Mizzima: “When we arrived at the scene, the buses were completely destroyed. Police and soldiers were investigating.”
Meanwhile, a bomb exploded on Wedneday in the compound of the Township Administrative office in Thanbyuzayat at about 12:30 p.m. There were no casualties, said a township resident.
Similarly, on May 22, an unknown armed group fired on and stopped five passenger buses en route from Ye on the Ye-Thanbyuzayat Road between Kanikamauk and Lainmawchan villages in Ye Township, Mon State, and took a driver and six conductors hostage, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on May 24.
The state-run newspaper said the Karen National Union (KNU) was responsible. The KNU denied the allegation.
Meanwhile, authorities in Thanbyuzayat, Kyaikmayaw and some townships in Mon State have ordered members of cease-fire groups to handover their weapons to police stations no later than June 30.
A cease-fire group, the Mon Peace and Defense Front (MPDF), the Karen Peace Force, some members of New Mon State Party and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army all have activities in villages in the townships.
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – About 20 gunmen set two passenger buses on fire on the Ye-Thanbyuzayat Road in Mon State and took a total of six drivers and conductors hostage at around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, according to witnesses.
The gunmen took the six hostages and set fire to the Yazamin and Shweli Yadanar buses near Thayaaye village, which is located 30 miles north of Ye.
“They stopped about 20 vehicles and then ordered all the passengers to get off the buses. Then they set fire to the buses, but they did nothing to the cars and passengers,” a monk told Mizzima.
He said that there were about 20 gunmen; most were armed and some had heavy weapons, the monk said.
A villager from Thakkaw village in Thanbyuzayat Township told Mizzima: “When we arrived at the scene, the buses were completely destroyed. Police and soldiers were investigating.”
Meanwhile, a bomb exploded on Wedneday in the compound of the Township Administrative office in Thanbyuzayat at about 12:30 p.m. There were no casualties, said a township resident.
Similarly, on May 22, an unknown armed group fired on and stopped five passenger buses en route from Ye on the Ye-Thanbyuzayat Road between Kanikamauk and Lainmawchan villages in Ye Township, Mon State, and took a driver and six conductors hostage, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on May 24.
The state-run newspaper said the Karen National Union (KNU) was responsible. The KNU denied the allegation.
Meanwhile, authorities in Thanbyuzayat, Kyaikmayaw and some townships in Mon State have ordered members of cease-fire groups to handover their weapons to police stations no later than June 30.
A cease-fire group, the Mon Peace and Defense Front (MPDF), the Karen Peace Force, some members of New Mon State Party and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army all have activities in villages in the townships.
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