Burma Army attacks in Karen State have caused over 11,000 people to flee their homes in recent weeks. Homes and rice barns have been burned, and landmines laid, to stop people returning to their villages. The bodies of several victims have been found, some severely mutilated. Saw Po De, a 40 year-old man, was beheaded in Ker Der Gah village. A nine year-old girl, Naw Eh Ywa Paw, was shot, and her father and grandmother killed.  

There is an "immediate" need for rice and medicine for those who are displaced, according to the relief team the Free Burma Rangers, which claims that the situation in the area is now "worse than at any time since the offensives of 1997". In their most recent report, the Free Burma Rangers described the events of March 27, when the Burma Army attacked civilians fleeing their village. "The people had fled the attacking Burma Army who were sweeping the entire area ... They did not know the Burma Army was waiting for them .... The shock of having a line of troops open fire at point blank range must have been tremendous."

At least 11 civilians have been shot dead. One of the survivors said: "The Burma Army waited in a prepared position to kill villagers. They waited until they were only 10 yards away and opened fire on a man carrying his mother, as well as the families and children behind him. What kind of people, what kind of system, can do this?"  

 The Free Burma Rangers also reported finding another body, in a different area. "This man was found dead on the side of a trail. He was not part of the group described above and had died more recently," the report claims. "He had been tortured with one of his eyes pulled out and his nose cut off. No one knows who he is. He may be one of the men captured and missing from another village in a different valley. We are trying to find out. This is a tragic situation and is tragic not only for the people involved here but for all of Burma."

For further information  see www.csw.org.uk or www.freeburmarangers.org

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