Myanmar boosts troops along Thailand border

Myanmar boosts troops along Thailand border

MAE HONG SON, Thailand (AFP): Myanmar troops are pouring into border regions opposite Thailand's northern Mae Hong Son province and may be preparing to attack refugee camps here, sources said on Sunday.

Ethnic minority leaders and Thai intelligence sources said an attack may be planned to retaliate for the seizure earlier this month of Yangon's embassy in Bangkok by pro-democracy student gunmen.

A senior Thai intelligence source told AFP he estimated the number of Yangon's troops in the area had increased in recent days from some 10,000 to between 20,000 and 30,000.

Karenni National Progressive Party deputy commander Maj. Gen. Aung Myat also said government troops had moved closer to the Thai border and may be preparing raids.

The Yangon junta closed the 2,401 kilometer border after five gunmen stormed its Bangkok embassy on Oct. 1, holding nearly 40 people hostage for 24-hours.

The gunmen, who initially called for the junta to hold talks with the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, were later provided with an escape helicopter to the border by Thai authorities.

Myanmar officials while thanking Thailand for ending the hostage drama peacefully have also accused Bangkok of being too soft on the gunmen, and pressured authorities here to get tough with exiled dissidents.

They say the border camps harbor armed anti-junta forces and called for Thailand on Saturday to use an "iron first" to wipe out terrorism.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency last Friday said it had completed the movement of refugees from Huay Kalok camp in northwestern Tak province deeper inside Thailand to reduce the risk of cross-border raids by junta-backed guerrilla forces.

Thailand hosts some 100,000 Myanmar refugees, mainly of Karen and Karenni ethnic origins, who have fled suppression of ethnic insurgencies in military-run Myanmar.

Last year, several Karen refugees were killed and thousands were made homeless when guerrilla forces backed by the junta raided camps on Thai territory.

After the storming of the embassy, Thailand said it would increase security at diplomatic missions and crack down on several thousand exiled Myanmar students believed living here.

Bangkok and Yangon have been engaged in an escalating war of words over the crisis, with senior Thai ministers arguing the hostage-taking reinforced the need for democratic change inside military-ruled Myanmar.

But Yangon has angrily denied any responsibility.