Tension at the India-Myanmar border

 

Residents of Tamu district, on the border with India, in Myanmar are in extreme fear. The fear has spread over the bodies of 10 Myanmar citizens killed in firing by the Indian army.

All of them are members of the PKP, an armed group allied to the country's pro-democracy unity government.

They were killed in an operation by the Indian army on May 14. The Indian army claims that they shot dead suspects involved in insurgent activities along with weapons.

But Myanmar's exiled National Unity Government (NUG) says otherwise. They claim that these rebels were arrested, tortured and then shot dead by Indian soldiers.

Armed rebels have been hiding on the Indian border since the military coup in Myanmar. Until now, they had been in an 'unwritten coexistence' with the Indian forces. But this killing has disrupted that balance.

Panic has spread among thousands of Myanmar refugees who have taken refuge in the northeastern states of India.

"We are all in fear," said Thida (pseudonym), who organised the funeral of the rebels in the Tamu region. "This has never happened in four years. Now that it has happened, we are gripped by the fear that it could happen again."