[Myanmar] Burma Army Strike Hits Laiza, Three Civilians Killed

Villagers tend to several people who were hit by a Burma government mortar strike hit Laiza several minutes before. (Photo: Zen Myat Laphai / The Irrawaddy)

LAIZA, KACHIN STATE—Two mortar strikes by the Burmese government army hit Laiza town on Monday morning and exploded in a civilian area where Kachin villagers were sitting around a fire. According to initial reports, at least three people, including a teenager, were killed in the strike, while another three were injured.

Around 8 am Monday, this reporter heard incoming mortar fire and saw a strike hit a group of seven villagers who were warming themselves around a fire in the center of town. As the mortar grenade exploded they were tossed through the air and pierced with shrapnel. The second strike hit an empty house nearby.

Villagers and Kachin rebel soldiers ran towards the victims, who were lying amid pools of blood, their bodies covered with ash and dust from the blast. One man was instantly killed in the strike, while a teenager and one adult reportedly died later at the local hospital. Three other villagers, including a toddler, were seriously injured.

After the strike fear gripped the town, and on Monday morning many of the Kachin villagers prepared to leave Laiza and cross into China to escape further attacks by the Burmese government.

More than 15,000 internally displaced persons had fled their villages several months ago to seek refuge in Laiza, a small town on the Burma-China border where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has its headquarters.

Monday’s attack seems to indicate that the Burmese army is increasingly prepared to use heavy firepower near the Kachin rebel headquarters, despite the presence of thousands of villagers.

Authorities in neighboring Yunnan Province, in China, announced on Sunday that they were preparing for an influx of Kachin refugees due to the increase in the fighting, Chinese media reported.

Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture authorities told the Global Times that they had prepared four camps with emergency supplies near Nabang town, which could receive about 10,000 refugees.

Laiza and Nabang are two small Kachin towns separated by a river, which demarcates the border between Burma and China.

The Global Times reported that all trade between the towns had come to a halt due to the fighting and it quoted a local trader who said that “All business people from Nabang have run away†from Laiza.

In recent weeks, fighting in Burma’s northern Kachin State has intensified and the government has launched frequent airstrikes on KIA positions using fighter jets and helicopters, in an attempt to gain control of the strategically important mountains around Laiza valley.

On Friday, Kachin rebels claimed they shot down one of the army’s Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter gunships. The government confirmed that the helicopter had crashed but said the accident had occurred due to engine failure. Three soldiers on board were reportedly killed.

Following the crash, Kachin rebels feared the government might prepare heavy, retaliatory strikes.