EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday she is “deeply concerned about the continuous fighting in the Kachin State” in northern Burma following Monday’s artillery attack on Laiza by the Burmese government, which killed three civilians and injured four. The conflict “is putting at risk the nation-wide peace process and the gains already made,” Ashton said in a statement. “The latest reports of the shelling of Laiza and the resulting deaths of innocent civilians are particularly troubling. They point to a dangerous escalation of the conflict leading,” she said, adding that Kachin rebels and the Burmese government should open negotiations.