This was the largest outbreak of fighting between ethnic armies and government troops since the signing of the cease-fire 20 years earlier.

This 'toll gate' was used by the ethnic armies to collect tax on smuggled goods.

Occasionally this border is closed, especially during conflicts between ethnic armies and the central Myanmar government, but these incidents are less frequent now than in years past.

More than a dozen ethnic armies operate here, each with its own separatist agenda.

The fortunes of the ethnic armies rise and fall, but the smuggling goes on.

A mission concerned primarily with deterrence would require less firepower than the original assignment of separating the warring ethnic armies.

Shan State, with many ethnic groups, is home to several armed ethnic armies.

Burma's insurgent armies, both ethnic and communist, had been students of Mao's Protracted War whatever their ideology.

If they boycott the election, following a disagreement over the replacement of ethnic armies with border guards, it would take away the credibility that these elections need.

Troops have been fighting ethnic armies on the Thai border, and thousands of civilians have fled the country.