Ethnic Karen rebels attack key town in eastern Myanmar

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Rebels belonging to Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority have launched an anti-government offensive in a rare effort to seize a town in the eastern part of the country. Government and rebel sources said clashes in the town of Kawkareik in Kayin state, also known as Karen, began Friday morning with a surprise attack by an alliance of at least five Karen rebel groups. Government forces responded with aerial bombardments and shelling. Kawkareik is a strategic town linking the rest of the country with the city of Myawaddy, a key trading center on the border with Thailand. The Karen, like other minority groups living in border regions, have struggled for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government.