Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Myanmar has alarmed
Washington and the United Nations after it admitted carrying out
airstrikes against rebel fighters in the northern state of Kachin.
The conflict between the
Myanmar military, which repressively ruled the southeast Asian nation
for decades, and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has escalated in the
past two years, displacing large numbers of civilians, according to
human rights groups.
Recent steps toward
greater democracy and civil liberties in Myanmar under the government of
President Thein Sein, a former military official, have prompted the
United States and other countries to lift most of the sanctions that had
been squeezing the country's economy.
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In November, President
Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar --
also known as Burma -- in a symbolic endorsement of the fledgling
reforms.
But the U.S. government
expressed concern Wednesday after authorities in Myanmar said they had
used air attacks in clashes with KIA fighters this week.
"We're obviously deeply
troubled by the increased violence," U.S. State Department spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland said in a news conference. "We are continuing to urge
the government of Burma and the Kachin Independence Organization to
cease this conflict, to get to a real dialogue to address grievances as
the government of Burma has been able to do in virtually all of the
other conflict areas."
The Kachin Independence Organization is the political wing of the KIA.
The Myanmar military has
been using "air cover" in Kachin since December 27 in order to
transport supplies to a base near Laiza, the capital of the state and
headquarters of the KIA, said Zaw Htay, a spokesman for the president's
office.
The military carried out
"air attacks" on Sunday and Monday, he said, adding that the president
had instructed the troops not to invade Laiza.
Attempts to reach a KIA spokesman for comment were unsuccessful Thursday.
Ryan Roco, an American
freelance photojournalist currently in Kachin, told CNN from Laiza that
he had witnessed repeated heavy shelling and airstrikes by the Myanmar
military.
He has seen air attacks daily since December 28 around Laiza, he said.
"They have targeted
multiple positions but as of now, all have been primarily KIA military
positions, some of which can be seen in plain sight from Laiza, bringing
many residents to the streets and rooftops to watch in horror," Roco
recounted via e-mail.
"The shelling however is
far less precise and far more widespread as hundreds of mortar rounds
from 105mm and 120mm mortars are being fired from significant distance."
Shelling in Lajayang,
near Laiza, on 27 December left one man dead and three people seriously
injured, said Roco. He met the victims, who he said were civilians hit
as they worked on a watermelon farm, in the hospital where they had been
taken for treatment.
The heavy artillery shelling "poses extreme risk for civilians in the area already made vulnerable by war," he said.
The photojournalist
questioned the Myanmar government's account of its actions, saying what
he had witnessed appeared to be "a clear offensive effort to take
strategic KIA defensive positions surrounding Laiza."
Roco traveled with the
Free Burma Rangers, a non-governmental organization, which released
images earlier this week that showed attacks by the Myanmar military in
Kachin, but said he was not affiliated with the humanitarian group.
In the past year, the
Myanmar government has made progress in peace talks with other minority
groups, securing a cease-fire with Karen rebels.
However, clashes this
year between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine have
set off a humanitarian crisis there and underscored the difficult task
of managing the country's complex ethnic mix amid new political
freedoms.
The conflict in Kachin
remains a serious challenge for the government, as acknowledged by the
opposition leader and democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi.
"A cease-fire is not enough," she said last year. "We have to have a political settlement if there is to be a lasting peace."
Following reports of the
recent airstrikes, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Myanmar
authorities to "desist from any action that could endanger the lives of
civilians living in the area or further intensify the conflict in the
region," a spokesman said Wednesday.
Ban also urged "all concerned parties to work toward political reconciliation," the spokesman said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/03/world/asia/myanmar-kachin-violence/index.html?iref=allsearch
