Twin Crusade - Burma

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January 2000
We go in search of the baby faced and battle hardened child generals of the Karen guerrillas.

Twins Luther and Johnny Htoo stand amidst their child fighters and make faces at the camera. Luther's eyes roll as he sucks on a fat cigarette, Johnny smiles and pokes out his tongue. Last month's hostage crisis in the Thai hospital at Ratchaburi brought the world's attention to the God's Army. These twelve-year-old twins hit the headlines as the masterminds behind this and an earlier hostage incident at the Burmese Embassy. New pictures and footage of the boys provides an eerie glimpse into their crusade. For their dedicated followers they are divinely inspired leaders with the protection of an invisible horde of Karen warriors. "When they were born the sound of crowds was heard... when people went to look there were no footprints," reports Sister Roberts, an American nun who has counselled and watched the boys for the last 3 years. The twins lead with the Bible, reciting their favourite passages as an ideological platform. When in battle they talk like adults and are deeply respected. But just how long can their rag-tag band of 200 youths survive the combined roth of the Thai and Burmese military? We reveal that the twins may have escaped a recent Burmese army assault although their current whereabouts is unknown.

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: September 26, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Author: journeymanpictures

Length: 00:17:34
Rating: 4.66
Views: 31571

Tags: Burma twin child general soldier smoking God's army Karen guerrillas hostage crisis Ratchaburi journeyman pictures

Video Comments:
Lissy0012 (November 7, 2008 at 6:08 pm)
omg thats scared me!!!
teejate (November 3, 2008 at 7:09 am)
Has anyone heard what ever happened to them. They were the real deal..controlled a lot of people.
krayzieygluv (November 5, 2008 at 12:18 am)
I thought they surrendered in 2001 in Thailand & were reunited with their parents. Luther later had a wife & a kid. He stayed in Thailand while Johnny went to Burma to surrender himself in 2006. I haven't heard about them since then...they're probably still alive, otherwise we'd probably hear of it somehow, considering how much publicity they got~
teejate (November 5, 2008 at 12:33 am)
Thanks for that Kray. I did a little research and didn't run across that. I read that they surrendered at one point, at least one of them did, but then I saw they did about four or five years later. I remember reading a great Vanity Fair story about them a while back and was glad to see this clip. An amazing story. Thanks.
dobreze (October 31, 2008 at 6:55 am)
those kids are bad ass
PeeGeeBeeDee (October 30, 2008 at 6:32 am)
I'm sorry, but I can't help from HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
PeeGeeBeeDee (October 30, 2008 at 6:39 am)
I think some of these toddlers are running around High St.
darlinbabez (October 30, 2008 at 3:52 am)
aww dats sad little kids smoking anddont even no its bad
gramcox (October 19, 2008 at 4:48 am)
wow the u.n has corrupted the world
carpadiem92 (October 18, 2008 at 7:01 pm)
that's terrible..