Regime denies reports of six civilian deaths in Ngapali artillery shelling

By Admin 02 Aug 2024

DMG Newsroom
2 August 2024, Thandwe

Six civilians including three children were reportedly killed after artillery shells fired by the Myanmar military landed and exploded in Ngapali Town’s Jeittaw Ward on July 28, though the regime is denying those allegations.

“According to inquiries to officials in Ngapali about the news, it is false and fabricated with the aim of creating panic among the people and misrepresenting,” the regime claimed via the junta-controlled Myanma Alinn newspaper on August 2.

Thandwe residents were quick to dispute the denial, however, and specifically said that six civilians had been killed by artillery shells fired from a Myanmar military naval base in the area.

“If the regime didn’t fire the artillery shell, who would fire it? The Myanmar Navy’s Maung Shwe Lay naval base fired the mortar shell to prevent the Arakkha Army (AA) from attacking,” said a local woman from Jeittaw Ward.

Three children of Daw Myint Myint, a local woman from Jeittaw Ward, were killed in the shelling of Jeittaw Ward on July 28.

“Three children were killed on the spot. Their mother was distraught because her children had been killed in the junta artillery attack, and people had to search for her because she left somewhere,” said a resident.

A house in front of the Diamond Hotel was also hit by a shell on July 28, killing three women aged between 35 and 50, residents said.

Nearly 170 civilian casualties were reported by junta gunshots, shellings, airstrikes, and landmine blasts during some three months of fighting in Thandwe, according to a DMG tally, though the actual number of civilians killed and injured is likely higher on the ground.

The AA has seized two junta battalions and Thandwe Airport during the months-long battle for control of the township, and it continues to attack the Maung Shwe Lay naval base.

The AA has issued a warning to civilians not to travel near regime naval bases.