Scores injured by junta aerial assault on music festival in Kachin State

By DMG 24 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
24 October 2022, Hpakant, Kachin State

More than 100 people injured by a junta aerial bombardment on Sunday [October 23] in an area controlled by Kachin Independence Army (KIA) Battalion No. 9 near Kan Zee Village in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township are reportedly struggling to receive medical treatment.

The military regime has denied access to the road leading to Kan Zee Village since Monday morning.

“We can’t travel to Kan Zee,” said a local resident. “[The military] has blocked the road since this morning. We saw large numbers of junta troops heading to Kan Zee Village.”

As of press time, more than 100 people injured by the aerial assault still could not receive treatment due to junta travel restrictions, according to social organisations in Hpakant.

“The military has blocked our way to the village. Charities from the town that went to take out the injured people are still not allowed to go to the village. Some 100 injured people are trapped there,” a member of a Hpakant-based social organisation told DMG late Monday evening.

At least 60 people including KIA officers, businesspeople, artists, and civilians were killed when three junta jet fighters dropped bombs on a musical event to mark the anniversary of the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the KIA, at 8 p.m. on Sunday, according to local media and residents.

“Some 120 people were also injured, and some were critically wounded. They are still trapped in the town,” a KIA Brigade 9 source told DMG.

A KIA ally, the Three Brotherhood Alliance — a military coalition consisting of the Arakan Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army — issued a letter of condolence regarding the KIA casualties on Monday.

The coalition called on fellow ethnic armed organisations to respond decisively, saying it hoped that the regime would receive fitting punishment for its “war crimes” against civilians.

Myanmar’s military regime had not yet commented on the incident in Kachin State as of press time on Monday, as military tensions were best described as running high in and around Hpakant.