The military shelled villagers in Kachin State with artillery in retaliation for a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attack on a Peoples Militia Force (PMF) camp in Waingmaw Township.
KIA attacked the PMF camp near Aung Myae-1 village at 8pm on July 11 and seized its weapons. About thirty minutes later, Burma Army IB-142, LID-88, IB-142 and IB-387 attacked villages in Waingmaw, Dawt Hpong Yang and Momauk townships. The military also shelled KIA 19, 25 and 30 posts in Dawt Hpong Yang.
A shell injured a civilian's hands and killed four cattle in quarter 3 of Dawt Hpong Yang, a resident told NMG. The source said the Burma Army also attacked Konlaw village in Momauk Township with artillery, destroying three homes and a vehicle.
A villager from Waingmaw Township told NMG when KIA attacked the PMF no one “dared” to go and see what was happening. Eventually, the camp went up in flames, and the Lisu soldiers had fled. The source said the military immediately fired artillery at Nan Zau Yang village.
The Burma Army has launched multiple attacks on villages in Dawt Hpong Yang and Momauk township in June. Because of the shelling and increased fighting in the area, over 6,000 villagers fled to Bhamo and Momauk towns where they remain.
Fighting between KIA and military resumed after the February 1 coup, ending efforts to repatriate or resettle thousands of internally displaced persons uprooted since the conflict restarted over a decade ago following the collapse of a seventeen-year ceasefire.
