11.   Menglian, which abuts the Burmese border, is a sparsely populated, mountainous region frequently rocked by quakes.

12.   Military helicopters, trucks and sea-going vessels tried to reach outlying islands and remote areas near the Burmese border to contact survivors.

13.   Reports based on routine contact between Bangladeshi and Burmese border guards said the soldiers attacked a group of armed rebels extorting money from villagers.

14.   Residents of the Burmese border town of Myawaddy had been warned by the government to be alert for a retaliatory terrorist attack by the Karen rebels, it said.

15.   Thai Army Commander Gen. Chetta Thanajaro, meanwhile, met Wednesday with his Burmese counterpart, Gen. Maung Aye, in the Burmese border town of Myawaddy.

16.   UNHCR officials visited the Thai provinces of Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi on the Burmese border on Thursday.

17.   Two men have been arrested for transporting three anti-aircraft missiles toward the Burmese border to trade for heroin, police said Wednesday.

18.   He said the refugees would be moved farther into Thailand away from the Burmese border.

19.   However, the Bangladeshi military, which maintains a heavy presence on the Burmese border, said the report was baseless.

20.   Burmese border security forces, officially known as Nasaka, reportedly planted mines along parts of frontier with Bangladesh to check cross-border violations.