Women, children among 29 killed as artillery hits Myanmar refugee camp – reports

An artillery strike that hit a refugee camp near Myanmar’s border with China has killed at least 29 people, including women and children, media and sources said on Tuesday, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians since the return of military rule.

The shelling took place close to midnight on Monday in Kachin State, the sources said, when artillery hit the camp about 5 km (3 miles) from a base in the border town of Laiza run by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has been in conflict for years with Myanmar’s military.

Kachin media outlets said 30 people were killed and blamed the artillery strike on the military. Reuters could not independently verify the death toll and spokespersons for the junta and the KIA could not immediately be reached for comment.

Myanmar has been embroiled in a brutal conflict in multiple regions in the wake of a 2021 coup, with ethnic minority armies and a resistance movement battling to undermine military rule after a fierce crackdown by security forces.

More than 1 million people have been displaced, the United Nations says.

via REuters