The security forces which are cracking down on protesters in Rangoon are soldiers from Light Infantry Division 77, according to Htay Aung, an exiled researcher on military affairs for the Network for Democracy and Development.

He told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the security forces responsible for the current violence in Rangoon were from Light Battalion 101 and 105, both under LID 77, plus several riot police. LID 77 is based in Pegu Division in lower Burma.

On this the second day of the military crackdown, the security forces fired into a crowd of more than 100,000 protesters, including Buddhist monks, near Sule Pagoda in Rangoon. They also fired teargas, according to witnesses in the area.

One witness in Rangoon who was involved in the demonstration said that ten protesters were hit by bullets.

He said that protesters broke up and ran in different directions at about 4 p.m. when security forces blocked the demonstration near Sule Pagoda and began firing into the crowd.

“When we tried to turn back, three army trucks full of soldiers came from behind us and fired into crowd. Some people climbed on buildings, others jumped into alleyways and ran away.” he said in an interview with The Irrawaddy. He added that several people were shot, but he couldn’t confirm the number of dead or wounded.

Meanwhile, eleven trucks of soldiers from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army-an ethnic army that has declared a ceasefire with the junta-were summoned by the Burmese authorities on Tuesday from Myawaddy, according to an anonymous source close to the group, adding that they would probably be used in the campaign of violence in Rangoon.

The source said, “DKBA Battalion 907 left in eleven trunks on Tuesday night, accompanied by their two senior leaders, Lt Col Mort Tho and Col Ba Thein.”

He added that the DKBA leaders had been summoned to the Moulmein house of Brig Gen Thet Naing Win, Commander of Southeast Command of the State Peace and Development Council.

A Karen news agency, Kwekalu reported that about 400 DKBA soldiers set off quietly for Moulmein in Mon State and Pa-an in Karen State on Tuesday night.

Mahn Sha, General Secretary of the Karen National Union, supported the claims, saying that transportation of the DKBA troops was arranged by Col Myat Htun Oo from Military Affairs Security in Mae Sot.