IDP killed, another injured in Myebon Twsp landmine blast

By DMG 14 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
14 June 2022, Myebon 

An internally displaced person (IDP) was killed and another injured in a landmine explosion near Sanyin village in Arakan State’s Myebon Township on Tuesday morning. 

The deceased has been identified as U Maung Than Tin, 35, and the injured as U Maung Kyi Win, 29. The two men encountered the landmine along the upper reaches of Sanyin Creek, about six miles from the village, where they had gone to collect bamboo shoots, said Venerable Waryama, manager of the displacement camp. 

“When we went to the scene of the blast, one of the victims had died on the spot. The injured person was taken back to the displacement camp,” the monk told DMG. 

U Maung Kyi Win sustained injuries to his right arm and abdomen, and is currently receiving medical treatment in Sanyin village. 

“What happened today was very scary,” said U Maung Kyi Win. “The landmine exploded when we were returning home after collecting bamboo shoots. I was injured and my friend succumbed to the landmine blast. We make a living collecting bamboo shoots, and no one will dare go to the forest.” 

There have been past clashes between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) in the mountains near Sanyin village. 

A local man from Paletwa Township, Chin State, was severely injured in a landmine blast on May 30, and an elderly woman from Yokethar village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township was killed in a landmine blast on May 31. 

An elderly man was killed in a landmine explosion near Thaboh Zarphet village in Minbya Township, Arakan State, on May 15. 

At least 56 people were killed and 134 others were injured in landmine and explosive remnant of war (ERW) encounters during some two years of fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Arakan State from 2018-2020, according to figures from the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC).