U.S. TROOPS TO AID THAIS IN WAR ON DRUG MILITIA

BANGKOK - The United States is sending special forces and Black Hawk
helicopters to the jungle battlegrounds of northern Thailand to help Thai
army units confronting a Chinese-armed drug militia across the Burmese border.

It is one of the most conspicuous military and political commitments to a
southeast Asian state by Washington in recent years. And as Ahu Rongji,
China's prime minister, arrived in Bangkok Saturday, it also signalled a
new American determination to counter Chinese influence in the region.

As many as 100 soldiers from the U.S. 1st Special Forces Group are to join
the elite Thai unit Task Force 399 at a base near Chiang Mai, just 190
kilometres across Burmese territory from the nearest Chinese border.

The land between is controlled by the 15,000 strong United Wa State Army,
an ethnic militia described as the world's largest armed group of drug
traffickers. The Wa, in league with elements of Burma's military junta,
are flooding southeast Asia with heroin and methamphetamine from
laboratories a stone's throw from Thai soil.

Thai officials believe there are up to 60 laboratories in Burma, and
estimate that this year the Wa may smuggle out 600 million tablets of
methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant.

Artillery duels and armed clashes have erupted along the border as the Thai
Third Army has fought both drug traffickers and Burmese army units. The
U.S. special forces will train Thai commandos, and two Black Hawk
helicopters will boost their interception capabilities.