29 people killed in Myanmar artillery strike on a camp for displaced people
The camp is in an area controlled by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), one of several ethnic insurgent groups which have been fighting for self-rule for many decades.
All the victims were civilians.
It is one the deadliest attacks in the 63-year-long conflict in Kachin State.
Kachin officials say the armed forces have scaled up attacks on KIO-run areas over the past year because of growing Kachin support for other insurgent groups fighting the military government.
Much of Myanmar has been embroiled in a wider civil war since a 2021 military coup displaced the country's elected government. The military has increasingly used air strikes against opposition-controlled towns and villages since seizing power.
The exiled National Unity Government (NUG) has blamed the junta for the attack on the camp, describing it as a "war crime and crime against humanity".
Junta spokesman Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun denied that the military was behind the attack.
He claimed the army did not have any operations in the area and said the destruction was "probably" caused by stockpiled explosives.
0 Comment