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AP-Heavy fighting on Myanmar-Thai b



Subject: AP-Heavy fighting on Myanmar-Thai border

Heavy fighting on Myanmar-Thai border

Myanmar's ethnic Shan guerrillas are fighting Myanmar government troops
close to the country's border with Thailand

December 22, 1999
Web posted at: 9:43 a.m. HKT (0143 GMT)

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Heavy fighting has broken out close to Myanmar's
border with Thailand.

Reports say that several thousand troops from Myanmar are battling ethnic
Shan guerrillas.

The clashes may be linked to the area's endemic drug trade.

Shan guerrillas have been defending a string of hilltop bases for several
days.

Reports say they've faced persistent attack from up to four thousand
government soldiers, as well as shelling, and latest reports say the Shan
are pulling back.

The sound of battle has been heard across the border in northern Thailand.
Casualty figures aren't known.

The fighting started about a week ago, following an ambush by the Shan on a
convoy of tribesmen who were carrying drugs through the area's isolated
hills.

Unconfirmed claims say the column was guarded by troops from Myanmar.

Shan troops showed reporters the body of one man who was wearing the uniform
of the Myanmar army.

Opponents of the military regime in Yangon have long alleged that it has a
hand in the country's booming drugs trade, a claim the government strongly
denies.

Following the ambush, one tribesman was captured and handed over to Thai
authorities.


Shan guerrillas have been defending a string of hilltop bases for several
days

More than four hundred thousand amphetamine tablets, almost certainly bound
for dealers in Bangkok and other Thai cities, were in the captured man's
possession.

The Shan State Army (SSA) says it's carrying out an anti-drug sweep in its
territory, codenamed "Operation White Tiger".

It's part of an attempt by the army to convince the outside world that it's
changed its ways.

For many years it was the personal army of Khun Sa, one of the world's major
producers of heroin.

He struck a peace deal with Yangon in 1996 and now lives in the capital.

The SSA says it's fighting for independence from Yangon.

It claims to have 12,000 men under arms, although that's almost certainly an
exaggeration.

Like other ethnic peoples in Myanmar, the Shan have suffered mass
relocations as Yangon bids to deprive the rebels of support in the
countryside.