Embattled Myanmar ethnic rebels dep

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Subject: Embattled Myanmar ethnic rebels deploy orphan fighters 

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By MICOOL BROOKE 

The Associated Press 

01/10/99 1:41 PM Eastern 

KAW LONG CHO, Myanmar (AP) -- A teen-ager living in a rebel camp -- one of
countless orphans produced in a half-century of conflict -- tells of
watching the Burmese army kill his father, a Christian pastor. 

"They laughed when they shot him in front of me," said Peterson, 15, who
goes by one name. "I'm fighting to avenge his death." 

Peterson is among 30 boys under 16 in a Karen National Liberation Army
battalion of 300 fighters at Kaw Long Cho, a hilly camp just inside
Myanmar, also known as Burma, near the Thai border. The Karens, a largely
Christian minority in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, have fought for
more autonomy since Myanmar's independence from Britain 50 years ago. 

Boys like Peterson typically arrive in rebel areas wanting to become
soldiers. They are put to work in the camps, gathering firewood and hunting
before being taken out on operations to learn fighting on the job. 

Many say they have seen their parents killed, part of a pattern followed by
the Myanmar army that human-rights groups and refugees say includes rape,
torture, murder and the burning of villages. The Karens call it ethnic
cleansing; the government denies it. 

The Karens and other minorities who have refused or broken cease-fires with
the military regime can expect the brunt of the army's annual dry-season
offensive, according to the rebel and Thai military officers who monitor
events inside Myanmar. Orphaned boys are being deployed alongside older
rebels to face the military, the Karens say. 

Kaban, one of Peterson's comrades, said Friday that he joined the rebel
army -- the military wing of the Karen National Union -- after soldiers
slaughtered everyone in his village. 

"The soldiers killed my parents," said Kaban, who has a look in his eyes
far older than his 15 years. "The KNLA is now my family." 

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, and the Karen National Union is
the largest of a score of rebel outfits. Karens are the biggest minority
group in Myanmar, about 3.4 million people among a population of 47
million. Most rebel groups in recent years have reached cease-fires with
the government, though a couple appear to be breaking down. 


The Karen have never signed one, though their long-time capital, Manerplaw,
was overrun in 1994. They have shifted to guerrilla tactics and say they
operate from about 300 mobile bases along the frontier. 

Battalion commander Capt. Go To estimates there are perhaps 2,000 boy
soldiers in the KNLA. He claims the rebels can field about 20,000 fighters,
though independent analysts put the figure at less 10,000. 

Kaban and Peterson have joined attacks on an army base in the middle of
hostile territory, Go To said. 

"There, the enemy is surrounded and we ambush them every time they come out
for supplies," Go To said. "We kill about 20 soldiers each month." 

The claims cannot be verified and both sides use propaganda as a weapon. 

A government spokesman said Sunday there is no offensive under way since
the Karens and other groups no longer control any land and large troop
concentrations are not needed to fight guerrillas. 

"This is their way of attracting attention and sympathy from outside the
country, by deliberately creating fabrications," the spokesman said on
condition of anonymity. 

(Source: AP)