Status: 08/19/2022 1:59 p.m
About a year and a half ago, the military took power in Myanmar by force. Thousands are now fleeing him in the northern Kachin region. The area is considered a hub of mining – and resistance to the junta.
In the predominantly Christian state of Kachin in northern Myanmar, thousands have fled air and ground attacks by the military junta. Hundreds of houses were burned down, as reported by the KNA news agency with reference to the Asian press service Ucanews.
The fighting between the army and its allied ethnic militia, the Shanni Nationalities Army, against the Kachin Independence Army has escalated since the end of July. The center of the civil war action is said to be the region around the town of Hpakant, which is considered the center of jade mining in the north of Kachin.
Region rich in mineral resources
Kachin is one of the 15 administrative divisions and the northernmost state of Myanmar. Multi-billion dollar jade mining is firmly in the hands of Myanmar companies closely linked to the military. Due to international sanctions and the withdrawal of a number of international companies from Myanmar – especially in the oil and gas industry – the income from jade exports is becoming increasingly important for the junta.
In the mountainous region near the Chinese border, rare earths are mined in addition to jade in hundreds of mines.
brutality against the population
In addition to Kachin, the states of Kayah, Kayin and Chin – which, according to the KNA news agency, are also predominantly Christian – are the epicenters of the struggle between the army and the resistance against the military regime. In these regions, the army also shells churches, burns villages and arrests priests.
At the end of July, the epd news agency reported on an analysis by the human rights organization “Kachin Women’s Association”. It documents how the Myanmar military junta bombed villages, roads and fields in Kachin State in northern Myanmar and neighboring regions. Civilians are killed or flee in their thousands. The bombings are said to be in direct retaliation for the junta’s military casualties in strategically important areas, particularly along supply routes and major roads.
In the past few weeks, the army has also brutally attacked Catholic villages in the predominantly Buddhist regions of Sagaing and Magwe in central Burma, according to the KNA news agency. Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, recently warned during a visit to Australia that the junta wants to stamp out the resistance by the end of 2022 with a further escalation of violence.
Nationwide riots
According to the Federal Foreign Office, bomb attacks and violent clashes, including those involving the use of firearms, occur regularly across the country. Targets are military and government facilities, but also public facilities such as shopping centers or banks.
A year and a half ago, on February 1, 2021, the army staged a coup against the civilian government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, those in power have tried to put down any form of protest and resistance.