Regime shelling kills two civilians, injures another in two Arakan State townships

By Admin 20 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
20 April 2024, Ann

A junta artillery strike killed two civilians and injured one other in Arakan State’s Ann and Myebon townships on Saturday, according to local people.

Ma May Thandar Khaing, 25, from Sanyin Village, Myebon Township, was killed after an artillery shell fired by a junta naval vessel in the Naungtaw River fell and exploded in the village at around 11 a.m. on April 20.

“A mortar shell landed and exploded near her. She died on the spot after she sustained shrapnel wounds to her chest,” said a villager.

Thousands of local residents from nearby villages including Sanyin Village fled to safer locations following the civilian deaths by junta shelling.

U Oo Chaung, 70, was killed and Daw Payone, 35, was injured after a mortar shell fired by the military’s Ann-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 372 landed and exploded in Kyatyaysan Village on April 19.

“They hid in a bomb shelter as they heard the junta artillery strikes. A mortar shell fell and exploded at a location where the two were hiding, killing an elderly man on the spot and injuring a woman,” said a resident of Ann.

Fierce clashes are reported in Ann Township on a daily basis as the Arakha Army (AA) is stepping up assaults on military camps including the Western Command headquarters.

At least 25 civilians were killed by junta shellings and airstrikes in Ann during the period from March 24 to April 20.