Myanmar Rebels Attack Gov't Base

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar Rebels Attack Gov't Base

By PATRICK McDOWELL
 .c The Associated Press  

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Karen rebels attacked guerrillas allied with
Myanmar's military government, killing at least 15 people near the border with
Thailand, rebels and a Thai police official said today. 

The rebel Karen National Union told The Associated Press in Bangkok that 100
of its fighters attacked inside Myanmar in revenge for a series of raids by
pro-government forces against refugee camps in Thailand. 

The Karen National Union is fighting for greater autonomy for Myanmar's ethnic
Karen minority. Its rival, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which supports
the Myanmar government against the rebels, has launched cross-border attacks
from bases in Myanmar repeatedly this month. 

``Our soldiers and our villagers are angry,'' Ner Dah, a KNU spokesman, told
the AP in Bangkok. ``They attack us, they attack our people several times.
Now, we want to give a little back to them.'' 

A Thai Border Police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at
least 15 people were killed and 20 injured in the raid Thursday. 

A Myanmar government official, in a faxed statement to Bangkok, described what
appeared to be the same attacks, saying assailants used heavy weapons and
burned houses. He said two women were killed when 70 guerrillas attacked the
village of Khot Ko, and five women and a man were killed in an attack on the
village of The-Pone. 

Most of the 100,000 refugees from Myanmar, also known as Burma, who are
seeking shelter in Thailand are from the Karen minority. Most support the
Karen National Union, which has fought for more autonomy for 50 years. 

The raids on the camps have been accompanied by a government offensive against
the KNU inside Myanmar. 

The refugees claimed the offensive was to allow the military to notch some
victories before Armed Forces Day, which marks the anniversary of resistance
against Japanese occupation in 1945. 

In Yangon, the capital, nearly 6,000 soldiers from the army, navy, air force
and police force assembled for a speech by Gen. Than Shwe, the commander-in-
chief and chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council. 

Than Shwe stressed government commitment toward national reconciliation,
meaning peace with the country's myriad ethnic groups. The government has
reached peace accords with a score of ethnic rebel armies. The KNU is the last
still fighting. 

The National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San
Suu Kyi, held an alternative commemoration inside her compound, attended by
500 people. 

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. Suu Kyi became prominent during
1988 anti-government riots. Her supporters won elections in 1990, but the
regime never allowed parliament to convene.