MAE HONG SON, Thailand -- Except for striking images of their women, some of whom wear piles of metal coils that appear to stretch their necks, Myanmar's Karenni are a little-known ethnic minority group. But they are waging one of the world's longest insurgencies, a struggle for self-determination with cycles of extreme violence and precarious peace.
Lodged in a remote, rugged border state with a small population and a neglected history, the Karenni -- along with the neighboring Karen minority -- have fought for more than seven decades against Myanmar governments dominated by the country's Bamar ethnic majority and military leaders.
