On Monday night, the State Administration Council (SAC) carried out a horrific attack on civilians living near the Kachin Independence Organisation’s (KIO) Laiza headquarters, resulting in the death and injury of at least 50 individuals, including numerous internally displaced persons (IDPs).
“All the homes in the lower part of the village were completely destroyed by the explosion. There’s nothing left in the IDP camps,” said a villager from Mung Lai Hkyet, where the attack occurred.
Residents reported that SAC artillery shells frequently land in their village, but nothing like this recent assault. At least 29 IDPs were reportedly killed on the spot, including a newborn baby, and 11 children under the age of 16, pregnant women, and other female victims, according to reliable sources. Rescuers found only 6 injured IDPs who were still alive. Additionally, at least 57 people were wounded.
“People were still searching for dead bodies until this morning,” the man told KNG today.
The source explained that the bomb created a 10-foot-deep hole when it was dropped at 11 pm in a location typically used for parking buses and trucks. It decimated part of the village and the two IDP camps, destroying at least 50 homes. “This was a significant bomb. Its velocity was so strong that it completely tore apart people’s houses.”
Almost one year ago, SAC killed over 60 people, including members of the KIO and its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), by sending two jet fighters to attack an event commemorating the armed group’s anniversary in A Nang Pa, situated in Hpakant Township on 23 October.
Mung Lai Hkyet is a mere two miles from Laiza and approximately 10 miles from Namsan Yang, where the KIA has been clashing with SAC troops since the regime’s failed offensive to take the area in July.
IDPs moved to Mung Lai Hkyet from Woi Chyai in 2014; however, most returned after the Burma army shelled it in December 2017. Tragically, only a few families have remained, and most of them perished during SAC’s brutal attack last night.
