AA personnel among casualties as junta shelling of Kachin IDP camp kills, injures dozens

By Admin 10 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
10 October 2023, Myitkyina, Kachin State

Dozens of people were killed and wounded when a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mon Lai Hket near Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State, was hit by aerial munitions late Monday night.

At least 11 children were among 29 IDPs who were killed by the junta attack on Mon Lai Hket IDP camp, KIA information officer Colonel Naw Bu told media. A spokesman for the Arakan Army (AA) subsequently indicated that one AA member was killed and 10 others were injured when one or more artillery shells struck a nearby outpost of the Arakanese ethnic armed group around the same time, as the clock approached midnight on October  9.

Fifty-six IDPs were injured, with the wounded sent to the hospital in Laiza for medical treatment, according to the KIA.

“The military simultaneously fired artillery shells on Mon Lai Hket IDP camp and an AA outpost,” said the AA spokesman, U Khaing Thukha.

Mon Lai Hket Village is located about two miles from Laiza, and is home to hundreds of IDPs.

Junta spokesperson Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun claimed Tuesday that the military was not responsible for the Mon Lai Hket “incident,” but that an investigation into what happened there is ongoing.

“There are various reports about the Mon Lai Hket incident,” he said. “Some accused the military of attacking the Mon Lai Hket IDP camp. One thing I can say for sure is that this is the place where the KIA’s unmanned aerial vehicle landed the drone. It is the place where bombs were dropped on military columns. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.”

U Khaing Thukha said the military’s firing on the AA outpost near Laiza could severely strain relations between the two sides, which have maintained an informal ceasefire in Arakan State since late November of last year.

“Renewed conflicts occurred in 2022 because the military attacked the AA military camps in such a way, which led to tension and armed conflict. If the Myanmar military attacks our military camps, the tension between the two sides may increase,” he warned.

The United Nations in Myanmar, meanwhile, wrote in a Facebook post: “IDP camps are places of refuge, and civilians, no matter where they are, should never be a target.”