Myanmar rebel leader dies after long illness
A veteran leader of Myanmar's ethnic Karen rebel movement, which is fighting one of the world's longest-running insurgencies, has died aged 79, rebel officials said yesterday.
General Bo Mya, whose Karen National Union (KNU) has waged guerrilla war against the central government since 1949, died late on Saturday in a Thai hospital near the border of eastern Myanmar, a senior KNU official told Reuters.
"He passed away after suffering from several diseases so severe that he could not walk for three years," said the official, who declined to be named.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. KNU general secretary Mhan Sa La Pah said the funeral would probably take place on December 26 in a Karen stronghold near the Thai border. "General Bo Mya died last night. His condition got worse in the last two days. He couldn't eat and had a sore throat. We had planned to move him to a hospital in Bangkok," Man Sa La Pah said.
Comments