Two Brothers Come Face to Face in a Ruinous Civil War
However, the rebels got there first and seized the soldier, Cpl. Thein Htay Aung of the Myanmar Army, and four others with him, along with rice, instant noodles, cigarettes and bullets.
Their hands tied, the prisoners were marched to the rebel camp. The corporal expected the worst. Instead, he was shocked to see his little brother standing among the rebels.
'I thought they were going to kill me right there on the road,' Thein, 38, said after his capture in February. 'But when I saw my younger brother, I felt a huge sense of relief. I suddenly felt so happy, because I wasn't going to die after all.'
In a video of the brothers taken that day, the corporal's hands are still tied, and he appears dazed by his sudden change in circumstances. His brother, Ko Tike Moung, 30, a rebel fighter, drapes his arm over him and beams with joy. He does the talking.
'Meeting like this makes me happy but also sad,' he said. 'Still, it's fortunate that we're both alive and we can talk to each other like this.'
Myanmar has extraordinary ethnic diversity
Kachin
Naga
Monewon
Kokang
Ta'ang
Wa
Danu
Chin
Shan state
Shan
Rohingya
Inn
Pa-O
Lahu
Kayan
Karenni
Rakhine
Karen
Mon
Bamar (majority)
No data
Naga
Kachin
Monewon
Kokang
Ta'ang
Wa
Danu
Chin
Shan state
Inn
Shan
Pa-O
Lahu
Rohingya
Kayan
Karenni
Rakhine
Karen
Mon
Bamar (majority)
No data
Note: The Karenni are also known as the Kayah, the Karen as the Kayin, the Rakhine as the Arakan, and the Ta'ang as the Palaung.
Source: General Administration Department, Myanmar
By The New York Times
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