Laiza, 10 October
The military council’s attack on the Mung Lai Hka IDP village is a war crime against humanity while trying to achieve peace with the ethnic armed groups, said revolutionary forces and human rights activists.
On October 9 at around 11:00 p.m., at least 30 civilians, including children, were killed and nearly 60 were injured when the junta bombed the Mung Lai Hka IDP village near Laiza where the Kachin Liberation Organization (KIO/KIA) headquarters was located.
U Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson for the National Unity Government (NUG) told Than Lwin Times that, “The military council’s attack targeting civilians is a serious crime against humanity. According to the sources, we heard the warplane dropped a large bomb on the target. There are also drones hovering in the sky. The NUG will stand with the Kachin people and work together to restore justice for these incidents.
The incident, on the other hand, occurred after the military council invited the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) to the 8th anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), which will take place in the coming days.
The military leader said at the last meeting of the military council that if non-NCA signatories want peace, they need to pave the way for them to walk on the path of peace by attending the ceremony.
Khun Myint Tun, Chairman of the Pa-O National Federal Council (PNFC), said that the military regime is unwilling to implement true peace, hence conducts a series of attacks that kill people, including children. Peace processes are now being carried out by the junta that has no right to do so.”
Kachin Human Rights Watch (KHRW) has also called for effective action against the organizations and individuals who are supporting the military council’s gross violence and to bring charges against the military council, which is committing war crimes, at an international tribunal.
Since early July, the junta army and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) have been battling in Namsangyang village, near Laiza. In addition to military airstrikes, combat is raging along the Myitkyina-Bamaw expressway.
Local human rights groups said that in the midst of the ongoing fighting, the displaced were attacked by the junta while they were taking refuge at Mung Lai Hka IDP village , just two miles away from Laiza town on the Chinese border.
Political analyst Dr. Hla Kyaw Zo said, “This action seems to pressure the KIA, which has not yet signed the NCA, to sign it, and the military council does not match its words and deeds. Fighting between regime forces and the KIA combined troops in Kachin State may intensify without abating.”
The military council has denied the attack on the Mung Lai Hka IDP village , and General Zaw Min Tun said they are still investigating the incident, according to a junta-run propaganda newspaper.
The KIO’s information official, Colonel Naw Bu, said, “This attack was carried out intentionally by the military regime against the public,” when asked by some news outlets.
In October of last year, the military council’s aerial bombardment of the Ananpa area in Hpakant township killed more than 60 civilians, including KIA comrades.
According to a September report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 281 people have been killed in around 1,000 military airstrikes in the more than two years since the military coup.
News: Than Lwin Times
Photo: Simsa Kasa
Thanlwintimes