Myanmar denies chemical weapon attack
2013-01-10 10:44
Yangon - Myanmar on Thursday denied accusations it had used chemical weapons
against ethnic minority rebels in the northern state of Kachin, where an
escalating conflict has overshadowed wider political reforms.
"Our military never uses chemical weapons and we have no intention to
use them at all. I think the KIA [Kachin Independence Army] is accusing us
wrongly," presidential spokesperson Ye Htut said.
The rebels on Wednesday said that the army had stepped up its operations in
recent days, allowing troops to take territory in a push towards the KIA
stronghold of Laiza on the border with China.
"It is already three days [they have] used chemical weapons [and] they
are able to occupy very important posts," KIA spokesperson James Lum Dau
told AFP.
He said there was an intense heat and soldiers "lost
consciousness" when the shells exploded.
"Around that area everybody suffers," he added.
AFP was not able to verify the claims, which follow the recent use of air
strikes by the government against the rebels in the resource-rich area.
Longstanding conflict
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the conflict since June
2011, when a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the KIA broke down.
The rebels made a similar accusation that the army had used chemical weapons
in late 2011.
The Kachin clashes, along with communal unrest in the western state of
Rakhine, have marred optimism about dramatic political changes since Myanmar's
widely praised emergence from decades of army rule in early 2011.
The United States and the UN have voiced concern over the air raids.
Civil war has plagued parts of the country formerly known as Burma since it
won independence from Britain in 1948.
Myanmar's quasi-civilian regime has reached tentative peace deals with other
major ethnic rebel groups, but an agreement with the Kachin has proved elusive.
President Thein Sein, a former general, in December 2011 ordered an end to
military offensives against the rebels and continued hostilities have led to
doubts over his ability to control the powerful armed forces.
Ye Htut reiterated government assertions that the army was only firing
"in self-defence".
"We always open the door for peace," he said.
