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Several children among IDPs killed in junta aerial attack in Kachin State

October 10, 2023/in News

Twenty-nine were casualties confirmed as of Tuesday morning in a suspected drone strike on an IDP camp near the KIA headquarters Nearly 30 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were killed in a suspected junta drone strike on a village near the headquarters of the ethnic armed organisation the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Laiza, northern Myanmar, […]

Displaced children killed and injured by remnant explosive in Rakhine State

October 10, 2023/in News

The weapon, the type and origin of which are as yet unidentified, may be a remnant of fighting between junta and Arakan Army forces that forced people from their homes in the area in 2022 An explosive killed one child and put two others in critical condition when it detonated in a displaced persons’ camp […]

Several children among IDPs killed in junta aerial attack in Kachin State

October 10, 2023/in News

Displaced children killed and injured by remnant explosive in Rakhine State

October 10, 2023/in News

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Several children among IDPs killed in junta aerial attack in Kachin State

October 10, 2023/in News

Twenty-nine were casualties confirmed as of Tuesday morning in a suspected drone strike on an IDP camp near the KIA headquarters

Nearly 30 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were killed in a suspected junta drone strike on a village near the headquarters of the ethnic armed organisation the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Laiza, northern Myanmar, at around midnight on Monday.

The Myanmar army launched the attack at 11:25pm on the village of Munglai Hkyet, located around two miles from Laiza, which is on Kachin State’s border with China. Around 500 IDPs had been sheltering in a camp in the village.

KIA spokesperson Col Naw Bu told Myanmar Now that as of 8am on Tuesday, they had identified 29 casualties and 56 others who were injured. Forty-four of those wounded were undergoing emergency care at a local medical facility, he said, adding that among the victims were several children and elderly people.

The rescue team was still searching for further bodies at the time of reporting.

“We didn’t hear the sound of any aircraft flying past before the attack. We suspect that it could be a drone strike,” the KIA spokesperson said. “I was told the bomb was dropped right on the camp.”

*Munglai Hkyet IDP camp after the junta attack on the night of October 9 (Supplied)*

Col Naw Bu said that there were no KIA military camps near the village but that it had frequently been hit by artillery shells in previous junta attacks. There had been no clashes near Munglai Hkyet on Monday night, he added.

Monday’s attack was the deadliest on KIA territory since the junta’s bombing of a community event in A Nang Pa, Hpakant Township, in October last year. More than 60 people were killed in that assault.

“This is a massacre of our Kachin people through aerial bombings,” Col Naw Bu said of A Nang Pa. “It’s a genocidal act of militarism towards our ethnic people.”

*Bodies retrieved by rescue personnel after the junta attack on Munglai Hkyet IDP camp on October 9 (Supplied)*

Myanmar Now News

Displaced children killed and injured by remnant explosive in Rakhine State

October 10, 2023/in News

The weapon, the type and origin of which are as yet unidentified, may be a remnant of fighting between junta and Arakan Army forces that forced people from their homes in the area in 2022

An explosive killed one child and put two others in critical condition when it detonated in a displaced persons’ camp in Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun Township, according to camp residents.

The camp, at which some 200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been sheltering since clashes broke out between junta and Arakan Army (AA) forces in 2022, is located outside of Yoe Ta Yoke village, some 40 miles northeast of the state capital of Sittwe.

Aung Myint, an IDP camp administrator, told Myanmar Now that the victim killed by the detonation of the unexploded ordnance, Nay Toe Hein, was 10 years old and that the two injured children were both six years old.

“Nay Toe Hein’s injuries were quite severe and he died upon arriving at the hospital. Myo Chit Oo was injured on the head and arms and is undergoing treatment at the Yoe Ta Yoke hospital. Myo Zaw Lin sustained injuries on his legs and genitals,” the camp administrator said.

The type of explosive that detonated in the camp is unknown.

According to IDPs who spoke on condition of anonymity, junta soldiers maintained a base at the Yo Ta Yoke railway station between August and November 2022, during which explosive weapons were regularly used in clashes between the the junta and AA forces.

The explosive that harmed the children was likely a remnant of weapons or ammunition used by the junta, according to the IDPs, but Myanmar Now has yet to confirm this supposition independently.

“Everyone’s just living in fear right now as remnant weapons like this could be anywhere. It’s especially dangerous for children as parents aren’t able to watch them all the time,” said a man in his 30s living in the camp.

The camp’s IDPs are mostly from Buddhaw, some five miles northwest of Yoe Ta Yoke, and neighbouring villages in Ponnagyun Township.

Fighting broke out in late 2018 between the Myanmar military and the AA, continuing until the two sides agreed to an informal ceasefire in November 2020. Armed clashes resumed in August 2022 but were halted by another informal truce within Rakhine State in November of that year.

The junta military swept for mines and other undetonated explosives along the Yangon-Sittwe highway in the early days of the truce. However, according to the chair of the Rakhine Human Rights Advocacy Association Myat Tun, the military failed to sweep in some areas where major battles had taken place.

“It’s a given that there are going to be explosives where they used to have bases. They should have swept those areas for mines,” Myat Tun said.

Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the AA, warned local civilians never to go near battle sites, junta bases or areas controlled by junta forces during a press conference on February 27 of this year.

The AA also called for civil society organisations to increase their efforts to disseminate information to civilians about landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Myanmar Now News

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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