Myanmar government troops fired mortars on an ethnic Kachin rebel training center in northern Kachin state Wednesday, killing as many as 22 insurgents and wounding at least 15 others, in the deadliest attack in three years, according to rebel officials.

The attack dealt a fresh blow to efforts by the government to forge a nationwide cease-fire agreement with Myanmar’s rebel groups, which have balked at signing the pact amid disagreements on future political rights and ongoing clashes with the country’s military in remote border regions.

Lamai Gum Ja, a member of a Kachin peace mediation group, said the assault on the Kachin officer training academy near the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) stronghold of Laiza occurred just after noon on Wednesday and originated from nearby Khaya hill, where government troops are based.

“Artillery fell on the meeting place of the KIA military cadet training school killing 20 persons and wounding 16,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

He said the incident had been reported to the government’s Union Peace Working Committee (UPWC), which is leading efforts to negotiate peace with rebel groups, the northern command headquarters of Myanmar’s military, and the Kachin state government.

Laphan San Aung, also a member of the Kachin mediation group, told RFA that the attack had come from a base run by the commanding officer of the Myanmar military’s 33rd Division and left 21 rebels dead.

“It was an attack using 105-millimeter artillery,” he said, giving details of the raid.

“There were 36 cadets attending the training course. Twenty-one were killed, and 15 were wounded.”

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/attack-11192014161203.html