October: Junta’s chosen month for killing sprees in Kachin State

In the years since the coup, October has come to embody the darkest chapter in Kachin State, a month when the junta’s cruelty peaks and many innocent lives are lost.

On October 23, 2022, more than a year after the coup, the junta carried out a nighttime air raid on A Nang Pa, a small community in Hpakant Township, Kachin State.

Kachin musicians, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) staff and officials, and members of the public had gathered in A Nang Pa for a commemorative ceremony and concert when the junta launched an unexpected airstrike, killing 69 people. The A Nang Pa bombing also exemplified the junta's blatant and merciless brutality.

October 23, 2025, marked the third anniversary of the A Nang Pa attack, which many consider a massacre. A Kachin musician expressed that he continues to mourn the victims to this day.

“Three people from the music world died in that incident. The well-known Aura Li and Zaw Moon (King) were among them. I’m not sure if people still remember this tragedy. For me, every time I think about them giving their lives while simply doing their best as musicians, it makes me so sad. It’s been three years, but the trauma still feels as fresh as if it happened yesterday,” he told KNG.