On May 24 in the Kachin state of Myanmar, 13-year-old Awng Di went to her aunt’s house at noon to feed her chickens. Thirty minutes later, heavy artillery fell on the henhouse; Awng Di died before arriving at the nearby clinic.
“Our family has never been involved in politics … We are trying to survive,” Awng Di’s mother told Al Jazeera. “Now, I want to curse [the military soldiers] every time I see them “.
There have been clashes between Momauk municipality, which originated in Awng Di, since Tatmadaw, the Myanmar army and the Kachin Independence Army, the armed wing of an armed ethnic organization, since April. According to UN estimates, the rise in violence in Momau and other parts of Kachin State has displaced more than 11,000 people.
What is Myanmar’s military “four restrictions” strategy? | New conflicts
‘Four Cuts’ was first used against Karen in the 1960s and was also expanded in 2017 in Rakhine.
It seems that Myanmar’s military, also known as Tatmadaw, has returned to its “four-a-side” strategy in an attempt to break resistance to its rule after a power coup over the elected government on 1 February.
But what are “four cuts”?
According to Naw Htoo Htoo of the Karen Human Rights Group, Tatmadaw began using “four restrictions” in the 1960s with the aim of abolishing armed resistance in areas under control. Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed organization in Myanmar.