CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- It might have seemed improbable when Myanmar's poorest ethnic minority seized their antique hunting rifles to battle -- and to bloody -- a Myanmar military that has unleashed artillery and helicopter gunships against them.
But following the overthrow of the country's elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 last year, the Chin were among the first to take up arms against the military regime, inspiring other opposition groups across the country to escalate their protests and armed rebellion.
