Four fighter jets and two helicopters attacked Kachin Independence Army (KIA) positions near the Laiza headquarters capital on Friday. In the morning, military planes struck KIA positions in Lajayang - located less than 10 miles south of Laiza.
At the time of press it was unknown how many causalities resulted from the air strike. The day before government shelling near Lajayang killed one civilian and injured three others at Mankwi, according to Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) sources.
Coincidentally, the increase in attacks on KIA positions near Laiza comes on the heels of a letter that the Burma's military sent to the KIO, earlier in the week. In the letter the KIA were instructed to abandon their positions near Lajayang. The letter was signed by Burma army Brig-Gen Tun Tun Naung, a senior official with the northern command. The KIO have rebuffed the letter and unwilling to withdraw from Lajayang, or any others that hold strategic importance for Laiza.
