Escaped prisoners say Burmese Army using them as human mine sweepers

LONDON - Three prisoners who managed to escape from the clutches of the Burmese Army have claimed that military junta in Myanmar is using about 600 prisoners as human mine sweepers along the country’s border with Thailand.

The Telegraph quoted the three prisoners, as saying that as prisoners did not possess money to bribe their jailers to avoid forced military service, they were being sent to the frontier to act as ‘porters carrying ammunition’.

“We had to carry ammunition, equipment and food for the soldiers. The worst thing is that they used prisoners to clear minefields ahead of their advance. There were many prisoners who were injured by the landmines after they were forced to walk ahead of the soldiers. We ran away because we didn’t want the same thing to happen to us,” one of the escaped prisoners said.

According to a human rights group, these prisoners suffered serious injuries as they were forced to walk ahead of troops across mined land.

The Burmese military regime regularly tortures its opponents, attacks rebel villages and uses rape as a weapon of war, reports said. (ANI)