The World - News from April 20, 1989

Burmese government troops killed more than 600 Karen insurgents in a two-month offensive that toppled a major rebel stronghold, a government spokesman said in Rangoon. A total of 177 government soldiers, including some officers, were killed and 377 were wounded in the battle for the Maela camp near the Thai border, Col. Than Tun told a news conference. The colonel claimed that the government victory broke the backbone of the insurgency by the Karens, an ethnic minority seeking greater regional autonomy since 1949. Thai police officers and Karens who fled the base reported lower casualty figures.