Seven civilians were injured and several buildings, including a church, were damaged by junta airstrikes on villages near to Laiza in Kachin State, on 7 August 2024.
The airstrikes began at about midnight on 7 August, when junta aircraft launched a series of bombing raids on the villages of Mai Sak Pa and Munglai Hkyet in Waingmaw Township, before hitting the villages of Kunglaw and Myo Thit in neighbouring Momauk Township, according to the KIO spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu.
All four of the villages are in KIO held territory in Kachin State. Mai Sak Pa and Munglai Hkyet are near the long-established Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) headquarters in Laiza, also in Waingmaw Township. Laiza has served as the KIO headquarters since 2005 and has been under KIO control for many years.
Describing the bombings, Colonel Naw Bu said: “The bombs were dropped around midnight by an aircraft believed to be a Y-12. Bombs also landed near Laiza. Some hit the compound of a local Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) church in Mai Sak Pa Village causing damage. A nearby house was damaged too. A pregnant woman in that house was also injured in the bombing strike.”
At least three bombs hit the KBC church compound in Mai Sak Pa Village, causing structural damage to the building. Another hit a nearby house injuring a 20-year-old pregnant woman, Malan Hkawn Nan, who sustained a shrapnel wound to her right leg.
The airstrike on Mai Sak Pa Village seemed to focus on the KBC church and the surrounding area. The aircraft dropped at least 10 bombs.
Following its attack on Mai Sak Pa Village the aircraft bombed the nearby Munglai Hkyet Village.
Half an hour later, at about 1:00 am on 8 August the aircraft bombed the nearby villages of Myo Thit and Kunglaw, in Mongmauk Township, injuring six more civilians and damaging some houses.
A source said: "There was no bombing in the Laiza Town area. The aircraft circled over Laiza for a few minutes, then flew to Myo Thit and Kunglaw villages and carried out more bombing attacks.”
Myo Thit and Kunglaw villages are located on the Myitkyina to Bhamo Road and were captured in early March 2024 by a coalition led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed wing of the KIO.
Following that, in May 2024, the junta hit Myo Thit Village with two heavy airstrikes that completely destroyed the village's cottage hospital.
Currently, there is ongoing fighting between the junta and the KIA in some areas of Kachin State’s Momauk Township. However, the recent nighttime bombing raids carried out by the junta did not target areas where fighting is taking place, according to Colonel Naw Bu.
Over the past six months, the junta has lost hundreds of encampments and outposts, as well as several strategic military bases along the Myitkyina to Bhamo Road. The junta took advantage of a temporary lull in the fighting on the Myitkyina to Bhamo Road to launch the airstrikes.
In its annual report released in May 2024, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) named Myanmar as one of the 17 countries in the world where religious freedoms are seriously violated.
