Two 105 mm mortar shells fired by Burmese army’s artillery unit stationed near Laiza slammed into Hka Chyang block in Laiza killing one student, 2 internally displaced persons and wounded 3 local women and an 8 year-old girl on Jan 14 at around 8 am, reported a local source. Despite calls from ethnic nationalities and international community to halt offensive and restraint violence against civilians, Burmese army continues indiscriminate shelling campaigns on civilians in Kachin and northern Shan state.

Hpaw Lang, a high school teacher in Laiza said, “internally displaced persons and students are having a great difficulty and living under fears as government soldiers shelling on Laiza indiscriminately. One of our students has been killed in this attack. It shelling continues like this, IDPs, students and local residents cannot live in Laiza anymore as there is no security for all civilians.”

The first mortar shell killed a deacon Malang Yaw Htung (age 76) and Nhkum Bawk Naw (age 46) injuring 4 others local women. The second mortar shell killed 9th grade student Hpauyu Doi Aung (age 15). The wounded are being transported to a hospital in China side of the border, said a local resident.

Yaw Nam, a 60-year-old IDP said, “we are hoping to end this war as fast as possible. Our friends in IDP camps are suffering a lot. Whenever we hear a gun shot, our heart pounded and our fears grow.”

Burmese army’s artillery units stationed near Laiza have been pounding civilian areas in Laiza city since the beginning of escalated war in December.  Burmese army’s rockets from helicopters on Jan 8 hit a temporary shop house owned by an IDP family who fled from intense fighting in their village to an IDP camp in Laiza in 2011. Another mortar shells fired by Burmese army’s 367th artillery unit based at Hkang Kai hill near Laja-yang hit a field in Dung Hkung village near Laiza killing one Kachin civilian and injured 3 others on Dec 27.