(Rangoon) An attack by the Burmese army left 29 dead in an internally displaced person camp in northern Burma, a spokesperson for the ethnic rebel group which controls the region said on Tuesday.
“We found 29 bodies including those of children and elderly people. 56 people were injured,” said Naw Bu, an official with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
The officer said that research was underway to understand the origin of the assault, which took place Monday around 11:30 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Eastern time) in a camp near Laiza, not far from the Chinese border.
“We didn’t hear any planes,” he said, questioning whether the army used a drone in the attack.
Clashes have regularly pitted the KIA against the army for decades. Fighting has intensified since the February 2021 coup that propelled the junta to power.
Around 50 people were killed and 70 injured in Myanmar air force strikes on a concert organized by the KIA in October 2022.