“Crashing Down on Us” 55 carried out with restraint,” and “if there are any further acts of terrorism that disturb the public, the necessary retaliation will be carried out.”117 While calling the KIA’s attack “terrorism,” the junta’s statement explicitly clarifies the KIA targeted military targets, namely a junta security outpost and a “main communication route,” therefore making the KIA’s attacks lawful under international humanitarian law and not an act of terrorism. The junta’s own statement further clarifies that the KIA attack resulted in solely military casualties, confirming, ironically, that the KIA focused on permissible military targets under the laws of war. Air and Artillery Attacks on Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State November 1, 2023, 6 p.m., November 4, 2023, 11 a.m., and March 7 and 8, 2024 Between November 2023 and March 2024, the junta continued to sporadically attack Laiza and the surrounding area. On November 1, 2023, air-raid sirens from China continued recurrently throughout the day, and at approximately 6 p.m., the junta launched an aerial attack on a mountain in the vicinity of Laiza. Laiza residents sent Fortify Rights videos showing the point of impact of the airstrike, with audible air-raid sirens from the Chinese side of the border in the background.118 Two Laiza residents, aged 27 and 44, told Fortify Rights that there were two airstrikes, carried out by a single jet.119 The 44-year-old added that the KIA has started warning residents about potential attacks with sirens like the Chinese air-raid sirens: “We were given a warning to stay vigilant around 10 p.m. tonight. As you know, like last time, the big attack [October 9 attack in Munglai Hkyet] happened in the middle of the night.”120 Speaking about the attacks between October 31 and November 1, a KIA spokesperson, Colonel Naw Bu told Fortify Rights: In the attacks that happened between October 31 and November 1, some civilians were injured. One civilian died, and two others were injured. In another area, six civilians were injured but not critically.121 At around 11 a.m. on November 4, the junta fired several artillery shells toward Laiza, one of which landed in Chinese territory, reportedly killing a Chinese citizen and injuring two others. Fortify Rights obtained two videos showing the aftermath of the Myanmar military’s shelling of Chinese territory and, through eyewitness accounts, confirmed the veracity of the footage.122 The first of the two videos, 22 seconds long, shows grey smoke rising from the ground while a Kachinspeaking man in the background exclaims: “Oh, it’s China! … It dropped in Nabang [a Chinese town across the border from Laiza]. … It’s at the base of the banana plantation. It hit a house.”123 The second video, 11 seconds long, shows a creek and barbed-wire fencing. In the video, as grey smoke rises, a Kachin-speaking woman in the background exclaims: “Ahh, it dropped on the Chinese side. It dropped in China!” A Kachin resident recorded the video from the Myanmar side of the border, across the creek that marks the border.124 117 Ibid. 118 Fortify Rights, “The Myanmar Junta Conducted Air Strikes in Laiza, Kachin State,” November 3, 2023, https://www. fortifyrights.org/our_films/mya-inv-vdo-2023-11-09/. 119 Fortify Rights communication with Z.H. and C.B., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 31, 2023. 120 Fortify Rights communication with Z.H., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, November 1, 2023. 121 Fortify Rights interview with B.H., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, November 5, 2023. 122 Videos on file with Fortify Rights, November 2023. 123 Ibid. 124 Ibid.