Impressment of civilians by the army to carry munitions to the front lines of the war against ethnic insurgents also continues, the embassy said.

Some of the aid and the helicopters provided had been used to fight ethnic insurgents like the Karen and Mon, who are seeking autonomy.

Burma's 180,000-man army is a lightly armed, well-disciplined force hardened by years of battles with ethnic insurgents.

However, critics say that the country still holds hundreds more political prisoners, and that fierce fighting is continuing between government troops and ethnic insurgents in several states.

Government forces made some progress during 1990 in their long struggle against ethnic insurgents operating on the country's periphery.

Many Gurkhas served in the new republic's various campaigns against ethnic insurgents and the Kuomintang invasions.

The ethnic insurgents continue to resist.

The Macedonian security forces resumed their assault on the ethnic Albanian insurgents for the third day, despite international pressure for a truce.

But they said for now the success of ethnic Albanian insurgents in the Kosovo Liberation Army had significantly undercut that possibility.

During the 2001 Macedonia conflict, it was occupied by ethnic Albanian insurgents.