Myanmar rebels teach coup protesters to make war
- 4 years ago
BANGKOK: Nervous laughter breaks out in Myanmar's eastern jungle as a young man training to overthrow the junta is knocked backwards by the kick of a rifle he has just fired at a target painted on a tree.
Waiting behind him for their turn with the weapon are others who have fled the cities and reappeared in rebel-held jungle territory, now training for combat against the military regime.
"We had never heard the sound of gunshots," Min - not his real name - told AFP at the training camp hidden in the thickly-forested hills of Karen state along the border with Thailand.
But four months after the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and unleashed a brutal crackdown on dissent that has killed hundreds, the 23-year-old is now "very used" to their sound.
He has also been convinced of their power.
It is gunshots - not protests - that "will end the military dictatorship in our country", he said.
Many anti-coup protesters share Min's anger and resolve.
Reliable estimates are hard to come by but analysts suspect hundreds of people have trekked into insurgent-held areas to receive crash courses in combat.
Source: CNA
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