Ethnic Armed Organizations Building Unity With Myanmar Anti-coup Activists
Voice of America
MAE SOT, THAILAND - In a sleepy Karen village on the Myanmar-Thai border in Kayin state, a day after the March 27 Myanmar government air strikes, rebel soldiers stood guard as two dusty trucks stopped near a Karen National Defense Organization camp at the edge of the hamlet.
Eight young men jumped off the tailgate of the truck beds with knapsacks and assembled near a bamboo hut. The group had come from Yangon to seek military training. They were obviously not soldiers. Their presence was the result of a growing new alliance between the most recent victims of Myanmar army attacks, prodemocracy forces, and non-Burman ethnic groups, such as the Karens, that have been involved in decades of conflict with Myanmar’s military.This handout photo released on June 2, 2024 shows South Korean military officers check unidentified objects believed to be North Korean trash from balloons that crossed the inter-Korea border, on a street in Seoul. In this photo provided by Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, hang on electric wires as South Korean army soldiers stand guard in Muju, South Korea, May 29, 2024.
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FILE - In this photo provided by Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea hang on electric wires as South Korean army soldiers stand guard in Muju, South Korea, May 29, 2024. This photo provided by Incheon Fire Headquarters shows balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, in Incheon, South Korea, June 2, 2024.