Myanmar’s ethnic Karen guerrillas claim to have seized the last army base defending key border town

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrillas from the Karen ethnic minority in Myanmar claim to have captured the last of the army’s outposts in Myawaddy township in the east of the country, virtually clearing the way for them to take the border town that is the major crossing point for trade with Thailand. The ethnic group’s leading political body, the Karen National Union, said its armed wing, along with another Karen group and allied pro-democracy forces, had captured an infantry garrison before dawn on Thursday. The Myanmar army has been facing setbacks in its war against resistance forces since last October, when an alliance of three other ethnic rebel groups launched an offensive in the northeast.