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About 50 DKBA-Karen Killed in Reven



About 50 Karen killed in revenge raid in Myanmar

MAE SOT, Thailand, March 27 (Reuters) - At least 50 people were killed inside
Myanmar (Burma) late on Thursday when Karen National Union (KNU) rebels
launched a revenge attack on the camp of a breakaway faction, Thai border
police said. 

The rebels launched a surprise attack and fired mortars at a makeshift movie
theatre at the camp of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) -- a group
that broke away from the predominantly Christian KNU in 1994. 

Women, children and pro-Myanmar guerrillas were killed in the attack at the
group's headquarters about five km (three miles) north of the Myawadi border
town, Thai border police told reporters. 

The attack was made while people were celebrating Myanmar's Armed Forces Day. 

Thai police said the mortar shells landed on the movie theatre which was
packed with about 60 people. The theatre went up in smoke and many people were
either trapped inside or killed by cross-fire that ensued. 

Mortar and small arms fire lasted about an hour, and the Karen National Union
torched about 200 houses and razed a saw mill belonging to their rivals, the
Thai sources said. 

Five stray mortar shells landed in this border town inside Thailand, but
caused no damage or casualties, they said. 

A KNU spokesman said the rebels seized a large amount of weapons from their
rivals during the raid, and also captured two enemy officers alive. 

The DKBA split from the KNU in 1994, claiming religious discrimination, and
joined forces with the Myanmar government army. 

Soon after it was formed, the DKBA began raids into Thailand, attacking and
burning camps housing about 100,000 Karen people who have fled the decades of
fighting between the rebel Karens and the Myanmar army. 

The KNU raid was seen as a revenge for a series of attacks launched by the
DKBA on refugee camps inside Thailand earlier this month. 

The DKBA, who the Thais say are backed by the Myanmar government army, have
razed and raided several refugee camps along the border, killing at least five
and leaving thousands homeless. 

The Thai government has threatened retaliation if the attacks continued. 

The Myanmar government issued a statement saying it was not encouraging anyone
to attack the camps. 

``It is not the policy to violate the sovereignty of a neighbouring country,''
said the statement, obtained by Reuters on Friday. 

The statement also said the KNU had launched other attacks on villages inside
Myanmar, burning down houses and wounding several people. 

The DKBA say they want all the Karen refugees living in Thai camps, many of
whom support the KNU, to return to the areas which are under DKBA control.
^REUTERS@