[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Fwd: Refugees Flee Burmese Governme

Subject: Fwd: Refugees Flee Burmese Government

fwd. by Philip F. McCracken, III   301-649-1776


---------------------
Forwarded message:
>From:	AOLNewsProfiles@xxxxxxx
Date: 97-02-14 18:40:32 EST

<HTML><PRE><I>.c The Associated Press</I></PRE></HTML>
      By JIRAPORN WONGPAITHOON
      Associated Press Writer
      NUKATHOWA, Thailand (AP) -- Wading through shoulder-high grass,
refugees pushed deeper into Thailand on Friday after finding little
shelter from the fighting in Burma at their first stop on a journey
through the jungle.
      Nearly 3,000 ethnic Karen have fled across the border since
Tuesday, when the Burmese government launched a large-scale assault
on ethnic Karen insurgents fighting for autonomy.
      The government has thrown nearly 5,000 troops supported by
artillery against the Karen National Union's 2,700 men along a
225-mile front in eastern Burma.
      The rebels sustained a major blow Thursday, when they were
forced to abandon their headquarters, which they burned before
retreating.
      Mortar fire still could be heard in the area Friday but it was
not known how the rebels were faring. A Karen National Union
spokesman said radio contact with the fighters was lost as they
fled into the jungle.
      Nearly 90,000 Karen and other ethnic refugees have been living
in camps along the Thai border for years. Many of the newcomers
hoped to find haven at an unofficial camp at Nukathowa, about a
mile into Thailand.
      But the camp was empty Friday -- save for Thai defense volunteers
and border patrol police. The 2,200 refugees who had lived there
fled when a few rounds of the mortar fire spilled into Thailand and
landed near the camp.
      ``It was such a panic. Many children could not find their
parents,'' recalled Cho Te, 25. She, her husband and their
2-year-old daughter were among some two dozen people traveling by
foot Friday to a camp Thai officials have set up at Klotho, a
village about a mile farther from the border.
      Children carried bags and bundles on their heads for the short
but arduous trek through shoulder-high grass and along a dusty,
pitted road.
      On the other side of the border, Karen guerrilla fighters are
also on the run, seeking to fight again another day under more
favorable circumstances.
      Karen rebels continue to fight, using guerrilla tactics to
attack Burmese soldiers from behind their own lines, Col. Isaac of
the Karen National Union said by telephone from the Thai border
city of Mae Sot.
      Isaac, who like many Karen uses only name, said his information
was coming from Karen troops and refugees spilling across the
border into Thailand.
      ``There have been skirmishes all day and heavy fighting in some
areas, but our forces haven't been able to settle into one position
long enough to set up a transmitter,'' Isaac said.
      The Karen National Union has been fighting for autonomy for the
Karen people since 1948. It is the last major ethnic army that has
not signed a cease-fire agreement with the military government of
Burma, also known as Myanmar. The two sides have held several
rounds of peace talks in the last 18 months.
      The government offensive began a day after Gen. Khin Nyunt, a
leading member of Burma's government, said that the Karen had
broken off peace negotiations.
      Isaac said the Karen were still willing to talk.
      AP-NY-02-14-97 1832EST
      <HTML><PRE><I>Copyright 1997 The Associated Press.  The information 
contained in the AP news report may not be published, 
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without 
prior written authority of The Associated Press.</I></PRE></HTML>


To edit your profile, go to keyword NewsProfiles. 
For all of today's news, go to keyword News.