FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

Human rights organizations condemned the bombing of the Munglai Hkyet Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp near the Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA) headquarters of Laiza in Kachin State on Oct. 9. At least 29 civilians were killed in the explosion and 57 others were injured. Women and children were among the casualties.

The regional human rights group Fortify Rights held the military regime responsible for the attack and stated that targeting IDPs is a violation of international law. It called for the international community to impose an immediate arms embargo on Burma. “The Myanmar military continues to attack civilians, including children, women, and the elderly, with total impunity and using weapons obtained from other U.N. member states,” said John Quinley III, the director at Fortify Rights.

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) – which includes former U.N. officials advocating for the return to democracy in Burma – stated that U.N. member states must take decisive action against Naypyidaw following another devastating attack on civilians. It added that the lack of international action has emboldened the military regime to continually commit human rights abuses with impunity.

“The military is flagrantly massacring the most vulnerable people in society, and yet U.N. entities in Myanmar will not even publicly name the military as the perpetrator. At what point will the U.N. decide to stand with the Myanmar people?” said Yanghee Lee, a member of SAC-M and former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma. The U.N. did not name the military as the responsible party for the bombing at the IDP camp.

The National Unity Government (NUG), Burma’s democratic opposition to military rule, and Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs) issued statements condemning the attack. Western countries, including the U.S., blamed the military for the bombing. Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun denied the accusations, claiming the blast was caused by an accidental explosion at an ammonium nitrate facility near the IDP camp.

A regime airstrike on a KIA-organized anniversary concert in A Nang Pa village of Hpakant Township in Kachin State killed over 60 people in October 2022.