“No chemical weapons used”, says President Office

Published on Thursday, 29 November 2012 14:57

Riot police did not use chemical weapons in dispersing protesters at Lapadaung copper mine, Zaw Htay, director of the President's Office, said.
Monks and locals, who protested against the China-backed copper mine, were dispersed in the wee hours of Thursday.
"I believe that police did not use any chemical weapons. Instead, they used water cannon, tear bombs and smoke bombs. Protest camps were fired by smoke bomb," Zaw Htay told Eleven Media.
He was reacting to a Facebook post made by ex-major Soe Thein Win of Myanmar Army Weapon Factory No.2, that authorities may be liable if they used gas bombs to break up the protest groups.
Zaw Htay quoted the Ministry of Home Affairs as saying that the police used only smoke bombs. “Smoke bombs are also used in the international community. They are not the ones which are used in battlefields. Those three kinds of weapons are only used in forcing demonstrations back,” he explained.
Dr.Than Htut Aung, the chairman and CEO of Eleven Media Group, has urged for an investigation on the incident. “As far as I know, the injuries sustained by the protesters seem abnormal. It seems to be caused by a kind of chemical explosive. The government should investigate the matter seriously as the weapons used by the police are not the kind of weapons used to disperse the protesters,” he said.

The observation on the differences between normal devices to dispense demonstrators and inhuman weapon

Smoke Bomb:

It is a kind of bomb to shoot out smoke when exploded. There are three types of them; (1) Smoke Ball, (2) Smoke Candle, (3) Smoke Canister or Smoke Grenade.

Smoke ball is used during games and ceremonies to projectile colorful smoke which lasted 10 to 15 seconds.

Smoke candle is cylinder-type and very much like fireworks used during festivals. It’s used to shoot out a cloud of smoke to disable the vision.

Smoke canister or smoke grenade is a kind of tin box and when switching the button and throw it, it can emit smoke. The army used them to show signal and to cover the movement of army from the enemy.

Tear gas has been used in international riots situation and it only emits smoke.

Protesters Vs. Police Officers in Bangkok, Thailand

The remark of Sai Thein Win, former colonel from Myanmar army, from No.2 arms and ammunitions factory, now in exile, wrote in his Facebook page

Flame thrower is among the weapons. It can shot the flame to 20 feet at most. But that kind of weapons didn’t allow using on the enemy who matched on open field except to kill the enemy who are inside of Bunkers, strong holes or buildings). It is an inhuman weapon and Geneva Convention prevented to use.

Another one that can burn fire the target is ‘incendiary rounds’, also known as ‘napalm’. There are chemical liquids or powders inside them, which glue to the target and burn until it runs out. Nothing can extinguish it. It is hoped everyone remembers that the Yankees faced their failure because the journalist managed to record the video of a Vietnamese girl running and shedding tears with fire burning her whole body. Now it is heard the protesting monks were hurt and burnt when the authorities claimed they fought them with tear gas. Actually, tear gas is not a firebomb. Tear gas is a kind of bomb that is designed not to hurt the protestors but to disperse the crowd. If it is true that the police used the chemical weapons, it can be said they committed an international crime.