CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Once among the greatest civilizations in Southeast Asia, the Mon fought Myanmar's central government for half a century from 1948, seeking to resurrect some of their bygone glories. Today, though, the Mon are on the sidelines as other ethnic minorities battle Myanmar's military regime in a bloody civil war.
Angered by a 2021 military takeover of Myanmar's democratically elected government, more than a dozen ethnic-minority armies are fighting the ruling junta alongside anti-government units from Myanmar's Burman majority. Together they are inflicting heavy casualties on the regime's superior forces, despite the military's use of warplanes and heavy artillery to obliterate villages and kill thousands of civilians.
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