IDP dies in Kyauktaw Twsp landmine blast

By Win Nyunt 05 May 2020

Win Nyunt | DMG
5 May, Sittwe

A 48-year-old internally displaced person (IDP) living at the Nyaung Chaung refugee camp in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township died after stepping on a landmine on May 4.

U Taung Lone, originally a resident of Ahtet Tinma village, encountered the landmine near the monastery of neighbouring Tinma village as he was heading to his home village to look for his cattle, said Nyaung Chaung IDP camp manager U Khaing Myo Aung.

“Four people left the camp in the morning at about 8 a.m. and the blast occurred in the evening at about 4 p.m. His left leg was cut off and the right one also got injured,” U Khaing Myo Aung said.

The three other villagers carried U Taung Lone back to the camp, arriving at about 8 p.m., he added.

“We were facing difficulty sending him to hospital because our region has a curfew not to go outside after 9 p.m. So, we provided him with medical treatment at the Thayet Tabin village clinic. He died at about 11 p.m.,” U Khaing Myo Aung said.

A funeral was held at the Nyaung Chaung village cemetery the following afternoon.

Villagers from Ahtet Tinma fled to the Nyaung Chaung IDP camp during fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army near the village on March 20. Almost all houses in the village went up in flames two days after it was abandoned as fighting in the area continued.

Since hostilities ramped up in December 2018, conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army in Arakan State has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and other forms of collateral damage due to landmine explosions, stray heavy weapons and small arms fire, and other combat-adjacent violence.