Burma is not emerging from the spiral of violence. An attack attributed to the army left 29 dead, including children, in an internally displaced person camp in the north of the country, a spokesperson for the ethnic rebel group which controls the region announced Tuesday.
“We found 29 bodies including those of children and elderly people. 56 people were injured,” said Naw Bu, an official with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The assault took place on Monday around 11:30 p.m. in a camp near Laiza, not far from the Chinese border.
Rebels question use of drone
The officer said research was underway to understand the modus operandi of the attack. “We didn’t hear any planes,” he said, wondering if the military had used a drone.
For his part, junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun declared that the army was “investigating based on information collected on the ground”. The explosion could come from a stock of bombs held by his opponents, he assured, without providing evidence.
Images broadcast by local media show rescuers equipped with flashlights operating amid the debris. Forty-two people were taken to a hospital near Laiza for treatment, Naw Bu said.
Antonio Guterres’ concerns
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “alarmed” by the killings and said “those responsible must be held to account.” He also continued to “urge neighboring countries in particular to throw their weight behind.” The British embassy in Yangon, for its part, said it was “dismayed by reports of a Burmese military strike” which killed civilians.
The UN and human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced the junta for targeting civilians during the bloody repression it carries out against all dissent, whether ethnic or political.
More and more fighting since the 2021 coup
Clashes have regularly pitted the KIA against the army for decades. Fighting has intensified since the February 2021 coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi from power. The junta accused the Kachin rebels of training and equipping the pro-democracy resistance groups (PDF) formed following the putsch to fight the regular army.
Kachin State has around 100,000 internally displaced people, including 10,000 more since the putsch, according to United Nations data from March. The Kachin Independence Army controls parts of Kachin State, a hotbed of jade mining, a lucrative but opaque, poorly regulated and dangerous industry.
Attempts at dialogue led by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have so far provided no reason for hope for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.