Nearly 40 young people were killed when Myanmar’s military junta launched an airstrike on a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training camp in Mohnyin District, Kachin State, even as the country grapples with a devastating earthquake.
A frontline source confirmed to KNG that two fighter jets bombed the KIA Brigade 8 Battalion 5 area at around 5:30 PM on March 31, killing at least 36 trainees and injuring more than 20 others.
“Yes, it’s true. It happened in KIA Brigade 8 territory. More than 30 were killed, and over 20 were injured,” the source said. The targeted site housed hundreds of young trainees at the time of the attack.
The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has yet to confirm the exact number of casualties. Colonel Naw Bu, KIO Information Officer, stated: “I heard that they bombed the area with fighter jets around 5 PM yesterday. We don’t have precise casualty figures yet.”
The attack came just hours after the junta declared a national mourning period from March 31 to April 6 for thousands of victims killed in a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Sagaing and Mandalay on March 28. Despite public calls to suspend military operations during the crisis, the junta has intensified air and drone strikes across Kachin State.
The KIA, one of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic resistance forces, has been engaged in armed resistance against the junta since the 2021 military coup. Unable to advance on the ground, the junta has increasingly relied on Russian and Chinese-made fighter jets to launch airstrikes on resistance-held territories.
This latest attack echoes the October 2022 airstrike on a KIA anniversary event in Hpakant, where at least 60 people, including musicians and civilians, were killed. The junta has continued to target KIA camps and other ethnic-controlled areas, even as international aid groups and local volunteers struggle to respond to the earthquake disaster.
This is not the first time the junta has carried out deadly airstrikes on Kachin territory. In October 2023, the military bombed Munglai Hkyet IDP Camp near Laiza, killing at least 29 displaced civilians, including women and children, and injuring more than 50 others. A year earlier, in October 2022, a junta airstrike on a KIO anniversary event in Hpakant killed over 60 people, including musicians and civilians. Beyond these major attacks, the military has repeatedly bombed villages and KIA outposts.
In addition to the airstrike on KIA Brigade 8, junta forces bombed Lamyang village in Waingmaw Township with drones at least five times on April 1.
The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is worsening. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that between 10,000 and 100,000 people may have died across Myanmar due to the earthquake. However, as of April 1, the junta has reported over 2,000 deaths, 3,900 injuries, and more than 900 missing persons.
Instead of assisting with disaster relief, the military continues to escalate its attacks on ethnic-controlled areas, using airpower to suppress resistance rather than providing aid to millions affected by the earthquake.
