Burmese Invaders Burn Refugee Camp

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar Invaders Burn Refugee Camp

 .c The Associated Press  

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Marauders allied with Myanmar's military government
shelled and burned a refugee camp Monday in Thailand, destroying 50 homes and
wounding 14 people, Thai media and aid workers said. 

The assault began when the attackers fired two artillery shells into the Maw
Ker camp, about three miles from the Myanmar border, said an aid worker who
spoke on condition of anonymity. 

About 30 invaders then entered the camp - home to 8,700 refugees - and burned
about 50 dwellings. Most of the refugees belong to the Karen ethnic group who
have fled Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

The attackers were members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a splinter
group of Karen that have allied themselves with the military government in
Yangon, Myanmar's capital. 

Reports persist of Myanmar army involvement in repeated attacks on refugee
camps in Thailand. Two weeks ago, nearly 9,000 refugees were left without
shelter when nearby Huay Kaloke camp was burned. 

About 15 hours after Monday's attack, fighters fired mortar rounds near the
camp, wounding four Thai soldiers, border police said. 

Thai television Channel 7 showed pictures of saffron-robed Buddhist monks
standing near their devastated dwellings at the camp, and of boys sifting
through ashes for valuables. 

All the wounded were taken to a hospital in nearby Mae Sot, 230 miles
northwest of Bangkok. Four people were seriously injured. 

Most of the more than 100,000 refugees from Myanmar living in Thailand are
sympathetic to the Karen National Union, which has been fighting for autonomy
from Myanmar's central government since 1948.