These are the darkest days we have ever faced,’ says Colonel Nerdah Mya of the Karen National Liberation Army – the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) – as we sit at base camp. Here in the mountain jungles of Karen State in eastern Burma, he talks about the world’s longest running civil war and the international community's apparent blindness to it.
Since 1949 the Karen have been fighting a war of self-determination, first against the Burmese Government and then against the military dictatorship now ruling Burma – the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The SPDC maintain an overwhelming presence in Karen State – there are 20 well-equipped Government soldiers for each Karen guerrilla. On 29 June they launched a major offensive against the key strategic outpost of Wah Lay Kee. The pitched battle lasted for several weeks. At Mae Sot General Hospital in Thailand wards filled up with wounded from all sides.
