MYITKYINA, Myanmar — As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Burma’s capital, Naypyidaw, in a show of support for authorities’ ostensible reforms and to discuss minority rights, government troops killed civilians and burned houses in a Christian-majority state about 450 miles away.
On Nov. 30, the day Clinton arrived, Burmese soldiers killed a woman and injured six other villagers as they fired four rounds of mortar shells at civilians in the Tarlawgyi area of Kachin state’s Waingmaw Township, Kachin News Group reported.
Another battalion burned down 10 homes in Nam Wai village and five more in neighboring Hpa Ke village, both in Dawhpumyang subtownship in Bhamo district, the Thailand-based news agency added.
The killing and arson followed two explosions that killed a student and injured another the previous night, Nov. 29, in the state’s capital, Myitkyina. The twin blasts rocked the state capital days after a powerful explosion killed seven children and three internally displaced Kachin people and injured 16 other children at an orphanage Nov. 13 in Myitkyina’s Thida Ward. The attacks left civilians in Kachin, where an estimated 90 percent of the 1.2 million people are Christians, “terrified,” the journalist said.
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