The Kachin minority – mostly Christian one of the most populous ethnic groups in the country for decades have been fighting for freedom
Airstrikes by Myanmar’s military killed as many as 80 people, including singers and musicians, attending an anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority’s main political organization, members of the group and a rescue worker said Monday.
He said military aircraft dropped four bombs on the celebration at about 8 p.m., according to members of his group who were there. Between 300 and 500 people were in attendance and a Kachin singer and keyboard player were among the dead, said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified because he feared punishment by the authorities.
Those killed included Kachin officers and soldiers, musicians, jade mining business owners, and other civilians, he said. They also included at least 10 Kachin military and business VIPs sitting in front of the stage, and cooks working backstage, he added.
As many as 80 people were killed and about 100 were injured in Sunday’s attack on the first day of a three-day celebration of the KIO’s founding, a spokesperson for the Kachin Artists Association told The Associated Press by phone. He said he first heard there had been 60 deaths but was later told by sources close to Kachin Independence Army officials that about 80 people had died.
The Kachin minority – mostly Christian – is one of the most populous ethnic groups in the country, and for decades its militias have been fighting for greater autonomy from the central government, in an area rich in natural resources and in particular in mines.
The United Nations’ office in Myanmar said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned and saddened” by reports of the airstrikes. “What would appear to be excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces against unarmed civilians is unacceptable and those responsible must be held to account,” it said.
Envoys representing Western embassies in Myanmar, including the United States, issued a joint statement saying the attack underscores the military regime’s “disregard for its obligation to protect civilians and respect the principles and rules of international humanitarian law.”
The number of casualties at Sunday night’s celebration, held by the Kachin Independence Organization in the northern state of Kachin, appeared to be the most in a single air attack since the military grabbed power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Kachin News Group, a media outlet sympathetic to the KIO, reported that an initial search found 58 bodies and that government security forces had blocked the wounded from being treated at hospitals in nearby towns. It was reported later that more than 20 additional bodies had been recovered, bringing the death toll to about 80.
Col. Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army, said by phone that KIA soldiers, musicians, businesspeople, and villagers were among the dead, but he could not confirm a casualty number due to communications problems. He said the deaths were a loss for all Kachin people, and its group would fly the Kachin flag at half-staff.
An emergency services rescue worker who was in Hpakant and also asked for anonymity said he saw three military aircraft making bombing runs over the celebration ground, just a few miles away. He said he was barred by the KIO from entering the area but heard that more than 60 people were killed, including a KIA brigade commander.
It was impossible to independently confirm details of the incident, though media sympathetic to the Kachin posted videos showing what was said to be the attack’s aftermath, with splintered and flattened wooden structures.
The military government’s information office confirmed in a statement late Monday that there was an attack on what it described as the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army’s 9th Brigade, calling it a “necessary operation” in response to “terrorist” acts carried out by the Kachin group.
It called reports of a high death toll “rumors,” and denied the military had bombed a concert and that singers and audience members were among the dead.
“The Kachin Confederation”) or simply Wunpong (“The Confederation”), is a confederation of ethnic groups who settled in the Kachin Hills in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State and neighbouring Yunnan Province, China, and Arunachal Pradesh, Assam in Northeastern India. About one million Kachin peoples live in the region. The term Kachin people is often used interchangeably with the main subset, called the Jingpo people in China.
Last year in 2021, over 44 children were massacred by the Myanmar military in a brutal coup. Children took part in a huge demonstration against the military coup in Myanmar where they seized power on February 1, 2021. Over 543 civilians were massacred including 44 children. according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring organization.