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Karen Rebels Clash with Burmese/Mya
- Subject: Karen Rebels Clash with Burmese/Mya
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 18:35:00
Subject: Karen Rebels Clash with Burmese/Myanmar Troops near Gas Pipeline
Karen Rebels Clash with Burmese/Myanmar Troops near Gas Pipeline
AP
06-JAN-99
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Ethnic Karen rebels are
skirmishing with Myanmar government troops near a $1.2
billion gas pipeline, Thai military officials said
Wednesday.
Fighting has been erupting on and off for several days
inside
Myanmar opposite the western Thai cities of Kanchanaburi
and Sangkhlaburi, said a high-ranking officer with
Thailand's
Surasee Task Force, who spoke only on condition of
anonymity.
The Thai military monitors troop movements and clashes
inside Myanmar because combatants and refugees
frequently spill over the border.
The Myanmar military is in the early stages of a dry season
offensive against a slew of ethnic insurgent guerrilla
armies
based near the Thai border.
The area near the most recent fighting is home to a
controversial gas pipeline owned jointly by Myanmar's
military government, Total of France, Unocal of the United
States and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.
However, the pipeline corridor has been heavily guarded by
Myanmar troops ever since Karen rebels attacked it with
rockets, killing four workers, in February 1996.
Myanmar's rebellious ethnic minorities, democracy activists
and international human rights groups have criticized the
oil
companies for building the pipeline.
They say that profits from the pipeline will provide the
cash-strapped military government with much needed
revenue to beef up its armed forces.
They also say villagers have been forcibly relocated to make
way for the pipeline, and that forced labor has been used by
the military to construct infrastructure necessary for the
project.
Both the military and the companies deny the charges.
The Karen have been fighting for autonomy from
governments in Yangon for 50 years.