Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 21:00:21 GMT 7
An anti-drug vigilante group in northern Burma said at least 20 of its members were wounded in gunfire and explosions on Thursday as they pressed ahead with a controversial mission to destroy opium poppy crops.
The violence comes a day after police allowed hundreds of members of Pat Jasan, a hardline Christian group known for flogging drug users, to advance towards poppy fields against the wishes of local opium farmers.
There were also unconfirmed reports of two deaths, the Kachin Peace Network, a local NGO, said, citing sources on the ground.
Tan Goon, head of Pat Jasan for the Kachin capital Myitkyina, said its members who had set off towards fields in the Waingmaw area on Thursday were ambushed by unknown attackers.
"Some were shot, some were wounded in mine and bomb blasts, some were beaten and hit with stones," he told AFP, without giving details of the type of bombs used.
Continues:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/12173437/Christian-vigilantes-attacked-with-guns-and-bombs-on-mission-to-destroy-Burma-opium-crops.html
The violence comes a day after police allowed hundreds of members of Pat Jasan, a hardline Christian group known for flogging drug users, to advance towards poppy fields against the wishes of local opium farmers.
There were also unconfirmed reports of two deaths, the Kachin Peace Network, a local NGO, said, citing sources on the ground.
Tan Goon, head of Pat Jasan for the Kachin capital Myitkyina, said its members who had set off towards fields in the Waingmaw area on Thursday were ambushed by unknown attackers.
"Some were shot, some were wounded in mine and bomb blasts, some were beaten and hit with stones," he told AFP, without giving details of the type of bombs used.
Continues:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/12173437/Christian-vigilantes-attacked-with-guns-and-bombs-on-mission-to-destroy-Burma-opium-crops.html
