BURMA STEPS UP OFFENSIVE AGAINST KACHIN REBELS

AFPC South Asia Security Monitor ^ | 1/21/2013 | Jeff Smith and John Ambrose

[bruinbirdman]

Three civilians were killed and several others wounded as a result of a series of artillery strikes by the Burmese military against targets in the town of Laiza in Burma’s northern Kachin province. These artillery strikes have come as part of a larger offensive by the central Burmese government against the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), an ethnic separatist group that wields significant influence in the province’s rural areas. The Burmese government has defended the strikes as an act of self-defense following the KIO’s refusal to allow supply convoys to reach a military base located in the province. The recent offensive is the latest in a series of escalations since late 2011 that have reignited the conflict between the KIO and the central government, following nearly 2 decades of peace under a 1994 ceasefire. The military campaign has drawn criticism from the United States and UN and could serve as a stain on the new Burmese government seeking to bolster its reformist credentials.

[wbill]

I read a story, a long time ago, about how the Kachins worked with the US against the Japanese. They sounded like seriously tough customers; as they clobbered the Japanese at their own game (jungle warfare).

Google "Kachin Rangers", I'm sure that there's some info on them.