Myanmar's air force conducted an air strike against a village located on territory controlled by the separatist Kachin Independence Army (KIA), killing at least 50 people, mostly civilians, during a concert celebrating the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) anniversary, the Irrawaddy news portal reported on Monday
BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2022) Myanmar's air force conducted an air strike against a village located on territory controlled by the separatist Kachin Independence Army (KIA), killing at least 50 people, mostly civilians, during a concert celebrating the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) anniversary, the Irrawaddy news portal reported on Monday.
The strike was conducted at around 8.30 p. m. local time (14:00 GMT) on Sunday and targeted an outdoor theater near the city of Hpakant where a concert was taking place marking the anniversary of the KIO, an organization that has been fighting for the autonomy of Kachin State in northern Myanmar.
Several high-ranking KIA officers were among those killed, and as many as 100 people were injured, according to the news portal.
"The hatred felt by the Kachin people for the military has just soared. The revolution will therefore only get stronger. The Kachin people and KIA will redouble their efforts in the Spring Revolution to uproot the military dictatorship," KIA/KIO spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told the Irrawaddy.
The Kachin Independence Organization was established in 1960 to protect the rights of the Kachin peoples, an ethnic minority group, within Myanmar, and to fight for broad autonomy for the state where they live. The KIA is the military wing of the KIO, which has been fighting the Burmese government since the 1960s. After Myanmar gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, the central authorities and the military groups of national minorities waged a civil war in the country until the 1990s.
Experts believe that a new escalation of the civil war has been taking place since the military grabbed power in Myanmar in February 2021.
