The leaders of political parties in Kachin State have expressed concerns that a series of recent attacks against Shanni people in Kachin State would trigger a new conflict in the state between Kachin and Shanni people. There has been a series of bomb blasts in Phakant Township targeting Shanni people and on 22 May a grenade was thrown into an office of Shanni Literature and Culture Organization in Seik Mhu village in Phakant. It is still not known who carried out the latest attacks. The leader of Kachin Democratic Party Dr Manan Tuja said political leaders in the state should take preventive measures to avoid escalation of ethnic conflict in the state and he called for the arrest of the culprits behind the attacks. In another incident, a Shanni leader Daw Nandar Hlaing, who was the head of 100 households of Seine Taung, village in Phakant Township was killed by two gunmen from Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The gunmen broke into her house and shot dead the Shanni leader. She was accused of serving as an informant to the Myanmar army.