The Tatmadaw’s Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing told the Myanmar Press Council on June 28 that the KIA was responsible for the murder of the two KBC teachers.

Colonel Naw Bu, information officer of the Kachin Independence Organization/Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA) from Laiza, said it was obvious that the Tatmadaw was responsible for the murder even though it has not admitted to the crime.

“Kawng Kha Village, where the incident took place with the two KBC voluntary teachers, was not an encampment area for KIA troops.  The Tatmadaw troops were stationed there during that time. There hasn’t been any history of KIA soldiers raping and murder the Kachin people. I have never heard of it before. Only the Tatmadaw was stationed in Kawng Kha Village so I want to say that the Tatmadaw committed the murder even though they don’t admit to it,” he said.

During a meeting with the officials from the Myanmar Press Council at Bayintnaung Villa of the Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief office in Naypyidaw on June 28, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing told them that two men from the KIA killed the two teachers from the Kachin State.

In an interview with the Irrawaddy, the Myanmar Press Council's vice-chair U Ohn Kyaing said the Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief told them that the Tatmadaw conducted a throughout investigation and it wasn’t responsible for the murder.

The two teachers were gang raped and murdered in Kawng Kha Village of Pang Hsang (Kyu Koke) in the northern Shan State on January 19, 2015.

Based on the testimonies of local residents and the findings of the lawyers, the Kachin Women’s Association in Thailand (KWAT) stated in its ‘Justice Delay, Justice Denied’ report that the Tatmadaw’s 503rd Light Infantry Battalion (LIB-503) may have been responsible for the crime as it was stationed in Kawng Kha Village.

The KBC Investigation Team attempted to meet the LIB-503’s commander, who was believed to be the top suspect, directly but the investigation has been halted since it was not allowed by the police.