{"id":76044,"date":"2020-05-01T09:30:31","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T02:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/?p=76044"},"modified":"2020-05-01T09:30:31","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T02:30:31","slug":"continued-fighting-dwelo-township","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.freeburmarangers.org\/my\/2020\/05\/01\/continued-fighting-dwelo-township\/","title":{"rendered":"Continued Fighting in Dwelo Township"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued Fighting in Dwelo Township<\/h1>\n

1 May\u00a02020<\/em><\/p>\n

Dwelo Township, Karen State<\/p>\n

\"The
The end of a successful Good Life Club program in Karen State.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 2005\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tee Law Thee Village, Dwelo Township<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s January 2005 and a\u00a0young Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) soldier is hiding in the jungle\u00a0near Tee Law Thee Village, Dwelo Township. His unit knows the Burma Army is in the nearby village and they\u00a0are waiting to respond. The Burma Army finds out where his unit is and blocks them. Moving through Dwelo Township from another direction, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army\u00a0(DKBA), a Burma Army proxy force,\u00a0attacks them from a different angle. They are able to fend off the attack\u00a0and four DKBA are killed in the clash. Later that year,\u00a0the DKBA and Burma Army attack\u00a0again in Dwelo Township. After defending\u00a0against\u00a0these attacks, this young soldier leaves Dwelo, not to come back on a mission for 15 years.<\/p>\n

Since that time, Dwelo Township has been a consistently violent place, with attacks by the Burma\u00a0Army continuing – despite a ceasefire – to the present day. That young KNLA soldier from 2005 is now\u00a0a Free Burma Rangers\u00a0team leader. With Burma Army attacks continuing in that area, as detailed below, he recently returned\u00a0to the area, this time for a relief mission.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3\u00a0January 2020\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wah Tho Kho Village, Dwelo Township<\/em><\/p>\n

Saw Dee Kah, age 63,\u00a0is helping with a funeral in the village. Unbeknownst to him, earlier that day the Burma Army had run into a KNLA platoon resulting in\u00a0a clash\u00a0which caused\u00a0the Burma Army unit to run and hide\u00a0in the village. Saw Dee Kah and a friend were carrying the possessions of the deceased when they came around a corner and unexpectedly heard\u00a0the\u00a0Burma Army\u00a0soldiers\u00a0yell something at them. Before they could get away, the soldiers\u00a0shot them, hitting Saw Dee Kah twice, once through the collar bone and once through his side, and his friend once, with a bullet going straight through his leg. Both men survived. The Burma Army then came out of hiding, beat a witness and arrested him without any cause.<\/p>\n

\"Saw
Saw Dee Kah’s wounds; he was hit twice by Burma Army fire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Saw
Saw Dee Kah’s wounds; he was hit twice by Burma Army fire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

22 February 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dwelo Township<\/em><\/p>\n

KNLA 3 Company holds an outpost along the border\u00a0between Mu Traw and Doo Tha Htoo districts. The Burma Army has been pushing a car road north through\u00a0Doo Tha Htoo District and have yet to push it into southern\u00a0Mu Traw District, which has not agreed to Burma Army road construction. Without agreement from district leaders, it is a violation of the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) for the Burma Army to build new roads and the KNLA treats undesired construction as an act of aggression. On Feb.\u00a022, the Burma Army pushed forward into Mu Traw District and clashed with 3 Company. While the KNLA soldiers called in reinforcements and held their line, a group of Burma Army\u00a0soldiers flanked them and burned down their camp. As the KNLA special forces deployed to help, the Burma Army\u00a0withdrew but lost three soldiers in the clash.<\/p>\n

\"The
The burned down KNLA camp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5 March 2020, 12:45 p.m.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Near Meh Way Burma Army Camp, Dwelo Township<\/em><\/p>\n

Saw Maw Aey Thar, a forest worker, is working near the Burma Army camp, when, without warning, he is shot and killed by Burma Army soldiers<\/a>. According to the information officer from KNLA 102 Battalion, it was Pyit Pyo Aung, the second-in-command for Burma Army Battalion 338, who ordered the shot that killed the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n

\"Saw
Saw Maw Aye Than, a Karen forest worker, was shot by Burma Army soldiers as he and two other forest workers rode together on a motorbike in Karen State, Burma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

21 March 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dwelo Township\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Three trucks drive the dusty road carrying the Free Burma Rangers Mu Traw District\u00a0team.\u00a0That former young KNLA soldier is returning to the area for the first time in 15 years, now leading<\/span>\u00a0an FBR relief mission, FBR’s first here in five years.<\/p>\n

Dwelo\u00a0Township\u00a0hosted\u00a0a lot of fighting prior to the\u00a02015\u00a0NCA. 24 Rangers, mixed from\u00a0FBR headquarter\u00a0elements, a Luthaw team, a Butho team, some Doo Tha Htoo District\u00a0team members and five medics, travelled to Dwelo Township and performed three Good Life Club (GLC) programs. They encouraged as many people as they could, including Saw Dee Kah\u00a0who was shot twice, and KNLA 3 Company who is still there, holding their position against an ever-encroaching Burma Army.<\/p>\n

In each village the Rangers visited they called nearby villages to gather together. Each village commented how they have never gathered together with neighboring villages for a celebration before:\u00a0it\u2019s always been to mourn or run. Each group received briefings from the area health secretary on the COVID-19 situation, an update from\u00a0a KNLA\u00a0battalion commander on the situation between the KNLA and the Burma Army, and then was introduced to FBR.<\/p>\n

In total, the\u00a0team conducted three large village programs with over one thousand villagers attending. The medics treated nearly 400 patients at their medical clinics. The team visited\u00a0KNLA 3 Company at the front line,\u00a0and encouraged and prayed with them. They spent time with the KNLA 102 Battalion, putting on a concert and encouraging them.<\/p>\n

The Ranger\u00a0team leader thinks back fifteen years, to when he was one of those young soldiers, and as he remembers the fighting he faced in Dwelo Township in 2005, he thinks of what he would have wanted to hear. He looks at the villagers and soldiers and says, \u201cWe are with you. You are not alone. You are not forgotten. FBR has not forgotten you. God has not forgotten you. Don\u2019t be afraid. Never surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rangers
Rangers provide medical care to Karen villagers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A Ranger teaches a song to villagers during a GLC program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"GLC
GLC programs provide villagers with a time for fun and games amidst the worry of more conflict.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"During
During a GLC program, villagers play a game where they must pop a balloon between their neck and shoulders.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n