OO KRAY KEE, Burma: In the mountain village of Oo Kray Kee, the first rooster crows more than an hour before sunrise as soldiers of the Karen National Liberation Army roll from their hammocks.
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During the night rocket-propelled grenades and mortars could be heard in the distance as rebel soldiers clashed with forces of Burma's military regime.
Battles have escalated since the national election on November 7, partly because the poll was seen as unfair by the Karen and other ethnic minorities, many of whom were excluded from the vote.
Burma is one of the world's most ethnically diverse nations, with more than 100 languages and dialects.
The Karen National Liberation Army has been fighting for the right of the Karen to rule themselves since Burma became independent from British rule in 1948.
But in 1994 the Karen split into Christian and Buddhist factions. The new Democratic Karen Buddhist Army sided with government forces and one of the places they attacked 16 months ago was Oo Kray Kee, about six kilometres inside Burma from the Thai town of Umphang. It was shelled and then razed.
But a KNLA commander, Nerdah Mya - son of the Karen leader, Bo Mya - encouraged refugees who had fled to Thailand to return and rebuild.
Now the fighting is again getting close to Oo Kray Kee, but this time the Buddhists and Christians are fighting on the same side, partly because both groups object to pressure from the junta for all ethnic minority armies to join a so-called border guard force under the command of the Burmese army.
The rapprochement is seen as significant because divisions among the ethnic minorities have been an impediment to making headway against the junta.
Members of the KNLA at Oo Kray Kee said the Burmese military had moved artillery from the border trading town of Myawaddy to a military camp only five kilometres away during the past few days. They believed preparations were under way for a full-scale assault.
Most of the 300 villagers have not waited to find out, and only a few dozen remain.
Most of the KNLA from the base camp at Oo Kray Kee have gone to the ''front line'' to fight alongside the Buddhist comrades they have now re-embraced.
Issacs, 31, a KNLA sergeant who carries a rocket-launcher, said they had ringed the village with more than 1000 mines to keep the Burmese soldiers at bay.
Asked who destroyed the village previously, Issacs said: ''It was government troops and [the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army]. But we are all Karen. So now we can fight together.''
But because relationships can also hinge on co-operation and rivalry in lucrative cross-border trade and smuggling, it is yet to be seen if the new alliance will hold.
