Four killed, six injured in latest Minbya shootings

23 Apr 2020

Myo Thiri Kyaw and Hnin Nwe | DMG
April 23, Minbya

A third straight day of gunfire in Arakan State’s Minbya Township killed four people and injured six others on the evening of April 22, according to locals.

The brother of 31-year-old Ko Than Tun said he and U Kyaw Myat Tun aka Tun Nu Chay were shot dead near Soonye Road while returning to their ward in Minbya town by motorbike.

“I feel sad as a brother. They [Ko Than Tun and U Kyaw Myat Tun] are best friends. They travel together. Now they have died together,” said U Than Htike Oo aka Lakepyar.

An anonymous resident said that they heard the sound of gunfire, which lasted for about one minute, when a Tatmadaw unit entered the town. They later found out that the two men were dead.

U San Oo Kyaw, 60, from Nayan village in Minbya Township was fatally shot while bringing back buffaloes that were grazing near the village. His son Ko Khin Maung Win told DMG that U San Oo Kyaw was admitted to hospital where he died of blood loss.

“The head of household is very important for a family. We feel like we don’t have our leader in our family. We feel like it becomes weak in family management,” he said.

Eisue Arli, 17, from Sanbalay Muslim village was also fatally shot on the way back home after taking cows to graze in a pasture outside his village. Sanbalay village is situated near Minbya Township’s Rar Maung Bridge, site of shooting incidents earlier in the week.

Wednesday’s shootings also injured six people from Sanbalay village and forced the residents of Nayan village to flee to nearby villages, according to locals.

Relatives of the deceased said their bodies were cremated on April 23.

The Tatmadaw stated that soldiers conducting security checks tried to stop a Yamaha motorbike carrying two men near Rar Maung Bridge at around 8:10 p.m. on April 22, but the men didn’t abide, prompting a member of the security forces to fire a warning shot. The statement added that they found the two men dead alongside the road together with equipment used for setting up mines.

DMG attempted to contact Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun from the Tatmadaw True News Information Team to ask about the case in detail, but he did not respond to phone calls.

Vehicles from the World Health Organization and Competitive Pest Services Myanmar (CPS) company were attacked near Rar Maung Bridge on April 20 and 21 respectively, with those attacks killing two employees and injuring two others. The warring parties in the region, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military, have blamed each other for the previous days’ deadly shootings in Minbya Township.

According to DMG research, eight people were killed and 15 were injured by shooting incidents in the township from April 20-22.