“Crashing Down on Us” 49 Attack on Munglai Hkyet Village, Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State October 9, 2023, 11 p.m. On October 9, 2023, the junta military attacked Munglai Hkyet, a Kachin village just north of Laiza that hosted hundreds of displaced civilians.78 The junta launched an assault that began with an explosion—likely from an airstrike or ground-launched missile—followed by artillery shelling.79 The attack killed 30 civilians, including women and 13 children, and injured scores more. It also destroyed a church, two schools, and civilian homes and shelters.80 Fortify Rights interviewed 12 residents of Laiza, including two aid workers and three displaced persons who survived the attack on Munglai Hkyet and were displaced again, sheltering in locations on the outskirts of Laiza and near a creek bordering China.81 A 45-year-old displaced Kachin woman who survived the attack with her husband and two young children, ages 11 and 7, described a loud explosion waking her on the night of October 9: It [the attack] happened between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. I was asleep at that time. … [S]uddenly, there was this “wone”, a loud sound. It felt like it was coming from the ground, as if something very powerful had exploded. The moment I heard the sound, I woke up frightened and tried to get up. But at that point, I couldn’t get up because the bamboo roof above where we were sleeping fell on us, and we struggled to push it off us. When we managed to get it off us, I saw that there was nothing above us. My roof was gone.82 She continued: [E]verything was in darkness. … [W]e scrambled around to find flashlights and grab our kids and then tried to find our way out of the rubble. There was nothing left. My doors, the beams, and our belongings, everything was rubble. Just as we were trying to find our way out, another shell dropped. … We hid in the sewer, knee-deep in water. … [We] stayed there for quite some time. The shelling continued, but it didn’t drop near us. It was still near enough that we could 78 The city of Laiza, located near the border with China, serves as the headquarters and administrative capital of the KIO and KIA. The KIO relocated its headquarters to Laiza in 2005, transforming it from a small village into a key stronghold of Kachin governance. The town houses various KIO governmental departments, overseeing immigration, municipal services, and law enforcement, standing as a symbol of Kachin resistance and self-governance. Laiza also provides free education and healthcare services to its residents, with schools offering instruction in Kachin, English, and Burmese languages. The town is home to tens of thousands of civilians, including more than 15,000 displaced persons who have fled conflict in other parts of Kachin State. Due to its strategic importance, Laiza and the surrounding area in eastern Kachin State have been frequent targets of artillery and airstrikes by the Myanmar military junta. See, Tickner, “Life on the Laiza Front,” Frontier Myanmar, and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Myanmar: IDP Sites in Kachin State (As of 31 March 2025). 79 Fortify Rights interview with Z.H. and A.B., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 10, 2023; Fortify Rights interview with B.F., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 12; Fortify Rights interview with F.B., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 20; Fortify Rights interview with D.D., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, November 8, 2023; Fortify Rights communication with D.Z. Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, December 14, 2023. See also, Fortify Rights, “U.N. Member States: Coordinate a Global Arms Embargo on Myanmar,” October 11, 2023, https://www.fortifyrights.org/myainv-2023-10-11/. 80 National Unity Government of Myanmar, “Statement Regarding the Terrorist Military Council’s Bombing of the Munglai Hkyet IDP Camp near Laiza, Kachin State, Myanmar,” October 10, 2023, https://www.facebook.com/share/ p/19Tg4fKiov/; National Unity Government of Myanmar, “In Kachin State, the Terrorist Military Group Attacked the Munglai Hkyet Village IDP Camp Using Heavy Artillery and Air Strikes,” October 11, 2023, https://www.facebook.com/ share/p/168ixwWtLJ/. 81 Fortify Rights interview with Z.H. and A.B., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 10, 2023; Fortify Rights interview with B.F., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 12, November 8, and 22, 2023; Fortify Rights interview with F.B., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 20 and November 8, 2023; Fortify Rights communication with C.B., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 31 and November 8, 2023; Fortify Rights interview with D.A., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, November 1, 2023; Fortify Rights interview with D.D. and C.F., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, November 8, 2023; Fortify Rights communication with D.Z. Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, December 14, 2023. 82 Fortify Rights interview with B.F., Laiza, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, October 12, 2023.