“As children, the twins Johnny and Luther Htoo were bulletproof and invulnerable to land mines — or so went the story that briefly made them famous as hundreds of guerrillas followed and even worshiped them in the jungles of southeastern Myanmar. Today, more than a decade later, their “God’s Army” is no more, and the twins’ greatest accomplishment may be that both are still alive.”
“Luther lives in Sweden. Johnny remains at an unofficial refugee camp in Thailand, not far from where the brothers were sent after they surrendered to Thai authorities in 2001.”
“Members of their Karen ethnic group have long sought autonomy in Myanmar, formerly Burma, but they have laid down their arms since a military dictatorship gave way to a nominally civilian government in 2011.”
“The legend of the twins began to form in 1997, when Burmese troops entered their village during a sweep of Karen territory.”
“They called themselves God’s Army. The boys were rambunctious, but strict discipline and a rigorous Christian routine were maintained. There was no liquor in their village, and church services were held at least once a day.”
“Journalists who traveled to the small village, Ka Mar Pa Law, saw the twins living what looked like a child’s pirate fantasy, shooting tropical fruit off the trees and being worshiped by adult followers who carried them around on their shoulders.”
“The God’s Army’s fortunes took a calamitous turn after it became enmeshed with an even more fringe group that led attacks on Myanmar’s embassy in Thailand in 1999 and a Thai hospital in 2000.”
Read more: Briefly, Myanmar’s ‘God’s Army’ Twins Reunite (archived)
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