The Myanmar military Friday launched an air assault on the headquarters of regional rebels in the north-east of the country, rebel sources said according to dpa. The Myanmar military used six Chinese jets and three helicopter gunships to attack the town of Laiza and two other bases of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said Nawdin Laphai, editor of the Kachin News Group, a pro-KIA publication. "There were no casualties because the KIA had intercepted a message about the planned attack from the Myanmar military last night and were well prepared," Nawdin said from the publication's office in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 600 kilometres north of Bangkok. "What is strange is that the jets flew in to Chinese territory and China has not yet protested at the intrusion," Nawdin said. Laiza is on border between Myanmar's Kachin State and China, 820 kilometres north-east of Yangon. Myanmar's military has been fighting the KIA since a 17-year ceasefire broke down in June 2011, displacing more than 75,000 civilians. The rebels blame hardline army officers for the recent clashes, which have frustrated efforts by the reform-minded government of President Thein Sein to end the ethnic strife that has plagued the country since independence from Britain in 1948. The KIA claims to have killed thousands of Myanmar troops since last year, and are estimated to control areas covering 54 per cent of the state's population.
