Several dozen attendees at a concert in Kachin State, northern Burma, were killed by an airstrike, says the Guardian, for whom the Burma Air Force might be responsible.
The strikes, which took place on Sunday, October 23, targeted a show put on by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on a military base near Hpakant, where its armed wing, the Army for Kachin Independence (KIA). According to the sources, the figures vary between 50 and 100 dead people.
According to the British newspaper, the number of victims is anyway one of the highest ever recorded “since the military took power in February 2021, toppling the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi”.
Several musicians, cooks and other civilians are believed to be among the victims. “At least 10 Kachin military and businessmen are believed to have died”according to a spokesman for the Kachin artists’ association, several of whose members were at the scene. “Neither the Myanmar military nor pro-government media immediately commented on the incident.”
Violence on the rise
Tensions in Kachin State are not new. “Different minorities in Burma have been trying for decades to gain autonomy through rebellion,” explain it Guardian. This is particularly the case of members of the Kachin ethnic group, who have been demanding greater autonomy for more than 60 years.
“But anti-government protests have intensified nationally of late, with the formation of an armed pro-democracy movement opposing the junta’s takeover last year.”
The UN authorities based in Burma have expressed “their great concerns” about the situation in the country, “while the NGO Amnesty International asserted that the strikes prove that an escalation of government repression is at work”.
The bombings took place “three days before the holding of a special meeting on the increase in violence in Burma, to which the foreign ministers of several Southeast Asian countries are invited”.