Refugees forced abroad by new Burma offensive

Burma government forces have overrun three Karen rebel positions in an offensive that has forced thousands of refugees across the Thai border, an aid group said, even as the rebels claimed to have killed or wounded scores of government soldiers.

Burma troops and their allies in the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a local militia, launched an offensive against Karen National Union strongholds in early June, shelling their camps and sending more than 4,000 civilians fleeing into Thailand.