Myanmar troops attack major KNU camp

Myanmar troops attack major Karen ethnic rebel camp

January 11 (AP) - Myanmar's military attacked a major stronghold of the Karen ethnic rebel group Tuesday, despite the two sides having been in an informal cease-fire for about a year, the insurgents said.

The rebels from the Karen National Union, the KNU, said government forces attacked the guerrillas' Battalion 201 at their Kalaw Waw camp opposite Thailand's northern province of Tak. Thai border security forces confirmed there had been fighting in the area, but gave no details.

KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha said Myanmar troops positioned for their attack on Monday and started shelling the camp where guerrillas and villagers had gathered for a ceremony. The villagers fled, he said.

He said KNU troops had captured seven Myanmar soldiers and seized more than 10 weapons, but gave no figures for Karen losses and did not say if the fighting was continuing.

Similar shelling had taken place at other KNU camps, he added. Myanmar's ruling junta never comment on military affairs.

Mahn Sha said the attack would not affect cease-fire talks with the government, but that the KNU would send a letter of complaint to Myanmar's government.

The KNU has alleged many previous violations of the cease-fire by the government side, particularly operations against Karen civilian villages.

In December, relief workers on the Thai-Myanmar border area said the Myanmar army had undertaken a major offensive in Karen areas, displacing nearly 8,000 villagers.

The Karen have sought autonomy in Myanmar, also called Burma, for more than half a century in what is one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.

KNU elder statesman Gen. Bo Mya reached a verbal cease-fire agreement with Myanmar's former Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt in January last year. But further talks have been on hold since Khin Nyunt was sacked in October last year.

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