Andrew Nachemson
Htoo Naw was a commando in the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) for 20 years before retiring due to his health. But when the 51-year-old heard that his old unit was preparing to storm the Myanmar military’s tactical command base in the town of Kyaikdon, he left his rice farm to return to the battlefield.
Kyaikdon, in Myanmar’s southern Kayin state, is nestled in the foothills of a mountain range that extends to the Thai border, some 12 miles east. The state is home to many members of the Karen ethnic minority. Armed groups have fought for political autonomy for the Karen since 1949, soon after Myanmar gained independence from Britain, while other ethnic groups in the borderlands followed suit in the decades afterward.
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