AFP-Myanmar ethnic minorities form

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Subject: AFP-Myanmar ethnic minorities form anti-junta alliance

Myanmar ethnic minorities form anti-junta alliance
MAE SOT, Thailand, June 16 (AFP) - Five of Myanmar's ethnic minorities still
fighting the country's military government have formed an alliance to battle
the junta, rebel leaders said Wednesday.
The announcement follows claims of territorial gains by Shan rebels in
fierce fighting with junta forces in the jungled terrain near Myanmar's
eastern border with Thailand.

The alliance agreement came during two-days of meetings between ethnic
groups held on the Thai-Myanmar boder, rebel leaders told reporters at a
secret briefing.

"Now we have less forces than the military, less than 10 to one, so we must
cooperate, adapt our guerrilla techniques," said Colonel Yawd Suk, commander
the Shan State Army's (SSA) southern region.

Yawd Suk said the allience would cooperate in military affairs as well as on
political and intelligence issues in an effort to unify Myanmar's struggling
ethnic groups.

He said the five minority groups were the Karen National Union (KNU), who
hosted the meeting, the SSA, the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the Karenni
National Progressive Party (KNPP) and Chin National Front (CNF).

"We were planning to change our military and political strategy and that is
why we held the meeting," KNPP secretary-general Rimond Htoo told reporters.

Htoo said leaders of the rebel groups who had not yet agreed on ceasefires
with the junta had agreed to cooperate.

Myanmar's junta has in recent years been trying to make peace with the
country's myriad ethnic rebel groups and has announced ceasefires with many
of them.

Htoo said an important breakthrough had been agreement on cooperation
between two groups fighting on Myanmar's western border -- the CNF and the
ALP.

"These two guerrilla groups will step up military operations against Myanmar
government forces and set up lines of communication," he said.

KNU secretary-general Saw Ba Tein also at the meeting said his group was
still battling the junta at every opportunity it got.

Myanmar ethnic rebels Monday claimed they had taken control of territory
around the former stronghold of drug czar Khun Sa close to the Thai border.


Yawd Suk said rebels under his command took territory in fighting with junta
troops around the town of Homong just inside Myanmar.

The rebels suffered several casualties, while 12 Myanmar troops were killed
during the fighting since mid-May, he said.

No independent confirmation of his claims was immediately available, but
Thai intelligence sources have reported heavy fighting between rebels and
junta troops in recent weeks.

Yawd Suk said there had been three major attacks since some 1,500 rebel
troops surrounded Homong, occupied by 2,000 Myanmar soldiers.

He said the SSA was helped by 300 fighters from the KNPP.