At least 15 civilians were killed and 10 injured when a junta warplane bombed the Tsan Lun gold mine west of Tanai town in Kachin State on Saturday, according to Colonel Naw Bu, the spokesman of the ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which is fighting the regime in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State.
“We were officially informed that 15 were killed and 10 others were wounded. There were also reports that 18 were dead. I don’t know if some of the injured victims have died. The victims were gold miners and vendors, not our staff. We don’t have staff there.”
There was no active fighting in the area when the regime carried out the bombing raid.
The KIA captured Tanai, home to a cluster of small-scale gold mines, last May. The group has allowed the locals to continue mining.
Col. Naw Bu said the junta’s deliberate airstrikes against the residents and the source of their livelihood are intended to cut off tax revenues to the KIA.
“They probably want to cut off a source of income for the KIA by targeting the gold mines. They might also not want us to deploy in areas with natural resources. They are deliberately targeting civilians everywhere,” said the KIA spokesman.
The KIA has captured Injangyang, Sumprabum, Tsawlaw, Sadone, Chipwe, Pangwa, Kanpiketi, Momauk and Mansi towns in Kachin State as well as Mabein in northern Shan State bordering Kachin State, and crucial border trade routes with China.
The group is currently attacking Bhamo, a district-level town. The regime is using air and artillery support to defend against the KIA’s attack.
