God's Army (revolutionary group)
Encyclopedia
God's Army is an armed, revolutionary Christian force that opposed the military government of Burma. The group was an offshoot of the Karen National Union
Karen National Union
The Karen National Union is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army that represents the Karen people of Burma. It operates in Eastern Burma, and has underground networks in other areas of Burma where Karen people live. In Karen, this Karen area is called...

. They were based along the Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

-Burma border, and conducted a string of audacious guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...

 actions—for example, seizing the embassy of Burma in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

—during the 1990s and early 2000s.

The group was led by brothers Johnny and Luther Htoo
Johnny and Luther Htoo
Johnny Htoo and Luther Htoo are twin brothers who jointly led the God's Army guerrilla group – a splinter group of Karen National Union – in Myanmar during the late 1990s...

 beginning in 1997, who were at that time estimated to be only ten years of age. Some of the followers of the twins believed that they had "Animist and Christian powers". "In January 2001, the twins, emaciated, turned themselves over to Thai security forces. They abandoned the Karens' goal of an autonomous or independent homeland, in exchange for permission to stay in Thailand, where they revealed themselves as scrawny, confused, Bible-carrying youngsters, with normal red tongues." In 2006 July Johnny Htoo and several of his followers returned to Burma and surrendered to Burmese troops.
"It was not immediately clear why Johnny Htoo returned in July to Burma and surrendered to the military regime."
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