Burma clashes: 30 dead as fighting continues (click here)
Rebel armies fail to link up in bid to tackle Burmese forces after sham election
urmese rebel hopes of creating a united front to tackle regime forces on the battlefield received a setback on Tuesday when the legendary commander of the ethnic army in southern Shan State said his 7,000 men couldn't be spared at this time to help Karen forces pinned down 100 miles south on the Thai-Burmese border.
The Karen soldiers - of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army's crack 5th Brigade - were desperately trying to hold on to regime positions they conquered in fierce fighting which began as polls closed on Sunday in Burma's sham election.
Claims by Thai authorities that the fighting had died down in the Burmese border town of Myawaddy were disputed by observers in nearby border areas of Thailand, where gunfire and explosions were still echoing in the mountains on Tuesday morning. At least 30 soldiers and civilians have died so far in the fighting.
Refugees continue to flood into Thailand, and aid organisations in the Thai border town of Mae Sot say they are now trying to care for at least 20,000. Thailand, meanwhile, says it is preparing to repatriate the refugees because the situation appears to be safe for them to return....
Fighting between the Burmese military and ethnic Karen rebels follows the release of pro-democracy leader Aung Sung Suu Kyi. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)
That statement is a lie! Aung Sung Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and the fighting has been going on the ENTIRE time. She is NOT to be used as a scapegoat again for the poor leadership that cannot quell the rage of the people.
THIS did not happen overnight.
WIPING OUT THE OPPOSITION
JUNE 18 2009 16:48h
Myanmar Troops Threaten Karen Rebel Bases (click here)
The army and their Karen allies were also threatening two bases of the Karen National Union (KNU), the largest rebel group in Myanmar.
Myanmar government forces captured three Karen rebel positions on Thursday in the latest fighting that has forced thousands of refugees to flee into neighbouring Thailand, commanders said. The army and their Karen allies were also threatening two bases of the Karen National Union (KNU), the largest rebel group in the eastern former Burma.
"We captured 3 small KNU positions and are closing in on two main bases," said Captain Kha Koe of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which joined government troops in an offensive against the KNU on June 3.
There were no confirmed reports of casualties....
Forced to serve … two Karen boys on guard in New Manerplaw - Karen rebel territory - in Burma. Children as young as 10 serve in the army and in the ranks of some 30 armed ethnic groups .
Photo: AP/David Longstreath
Photo: AP/David Longstreath
ADD to the many hardships in Burma one more danger: being a boy. The military, struggling to meet recruiting quotas, is buying, kidnapping and terrorising boys as young as 10 to fill its ranks.
A report by Human Rights Watch says military recruiters and civilian brokers scour train and bus stations, markets and other public places for boys and force them to serve.
Some may simply disappear without their families' knowledge and spend years on the front lines of a brutal war against ethnic insurgencies.
"In recent years, the military has continued to expand while at the same time losing large numbers of soldiers to desertion," a co-author of the report, Jo Becker, said.
Recruiters and agents receive cash payments and other incentives for recruits, even those who fail to meet basic health and age requirements, said the report, which was based on interviews in Burma, Thailand and China.
The large number of child soldiers in Burma's army - and in the ranks of some 30 armed ethnic groups - has been known for years. But the report, coming at a moment of crisis in Burma, illustrates the kind of abuses that, combined with economic hardships, resulted in the anti-Government protests in August and September that were crushed by the military junta.
"Even before the recent crackdown, many young adults rejected military service because of gruelling conditions, low pay and mistreatment by superior officers," the report said.
In response to criticism, the Government formed a high-level committee in 2004 to prevent the kidnapping of under-age soldiers. "In fact, the committee is a sham," Ms Becker said....
