Three killed, six injured as junta shells Mrauk-U

By Admin 24 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
24 December 2023, Mrauk-U

Three locals were killed and six others were injured when the regime shelled Mrauk-U, Arakan State, on December 24 following fighting with the Arakan Army (AA).

The deceased have been identified as Ko Zaw Lin Tun, 29, U San Maung, 35, and Daw Hla Hla Than, 26, from Mrauk-U’s Hsinchaseik Ward. The injured are Ma Khaing Saw Wai, 5, and three others from Hsinchaseik Ward, as well as U Maung Maung Thein, 35, and U Oo Saw Win, 43, from Ywahaungtaw Village.

“A couple [U San Maung and Daw Hla Hla Than] died on the spot after an artillery shell landed and exploded in Hsinchaseik Ward. The couple’s daughter lost her left arm and her condition is considered life-threatening,” said a local woman in Mrauk-U.

Ko Zaw Lin Tun, another man from Hsinchaseik Ward, was injured in a junta artillery strike while at his home. He was pronounced dead while receiving medical treatment at Mrauk-U Hospital.

U Oo Saw Win of Ywahaungtaw Village sustained shrapnel wounds to his chest and he is said to be in critical condition.

The civilian casualties were reported due to the junta’s shelling and drone attacks after the AA attacked Ngwetaungpauk police station in Mrauk-U at about 3 a.m. on Sunday.

The regime fired multiple mortar shells into residential areas and made a series of arrests of civilians in Mrauk-U following the hostilities with the AA.

Junta soldiers from the military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 377 abducted three civilians including a three-wheeled motorbike driver near Myothit Khwasone and took them to Mount Phayar Thonesu at about 2 p.m. on December 24, said an eyewitness.

The three-wheeled motorbike driver has been identified as U Maung Tin Shwe from Panphetan Ward and DMG continues to attempt to ascertain the names and details of the other two arrestees.

Military tensions between the military and AA are running high in Mrauk-U and local people are worried that the fighting will break out at night due to the junta’s indiscriminate shelling and drone attacks.

“The situation is getting worse. The military has been firing mortar shells into residential areas since the morning. The AA also attempts to seize junta camps,” said a local man in Mrauk-U.

Thousands of local people in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U reportedly fled to safer locations yesterday due to reports of the possibility of fighting between the military and Arakan Army.

A clash broke out between the military and the Arakan Army near Thetkyar Manaung Pagoda in Mrauk-U on December 13 after the ethnic armed group ambushed junta troops near Ngwetaungpauk Bridge on December 6.