Junta attacks kill four Arakan State residents, injure 13 others in a day

By Admin 28 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
28 November 2023, Sittwe

Four residents were killed and 13 others were injured due to junta heavy weapons and small arms fire in Arakan State’s Sittwe, Ponnagyun, Mrauk-U, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships on November 27.

The deceased are one from Panphetan Village in Mrauk-U Township and three from Wahcheelah Village in Buthidaung Township. Thirteen people — six from Sittwe Township, one each from Ponnagyun and Maungdaw townships, and five from Buthidaung Township — were injured on November 27.

Two mortar shells fired by the military’s Buthidaung-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 565 fell near Wahcheelah Village at about 4 p.m. yesterday, killing three residents and injuring five others.

“The victims were cultivating pepper plants on a farm when mortar shells landed near the village. Of the five injured, two people were severely injured,” said a resident of Wahcheelah Village.

The deceased have been identified as Maung Rurulah, 8, Ma Abdullah, 10, and Daw Arbayzar, 65. The injured range in age from 19 to 38, and they are being treated at Buthidaung Hospital.

Six local residents including children in Tawkan Village, Sittwe Township, were injured in a drone attack launched by the military at around 5 p.m. on Monday. The injured people, ranging in age from 10 to 27, are currently receiving medical treatment at the hospital.

“Children were playing near a classroom after having lunch when the military carried out a drone attack,” said a family member of the injured.

An elderly man in Pauktawpyin Village, part of Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, was injured in a junta artillery strike at around 8 a.m. on Monday. The injured man has been identified as U Maung Chan Thar, in his 60s. U Sein Kyaw Hla, in his 50s and from Aungthukha Village in Maungdaw Township, was wounded after he was shot by members of the Border Guard Force outpost in Inndin Village.

DMG phoned junta spokesman Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun regarding the reported civilian casualties, but he could not be reached.

Ko Aung Naing Chay, 35, from Pyinhla Village in Kyauktaw Township, received gunshot wounds to his abdomen when junta soldiers shot at him at about 4 a.m. on Tuesday. 

At least 22 people were killed and 74 others were injured in Arakan State and neighbouring Chin State’s Paletwa Township during the first 16 days of the latest hostilities, according to a DMG tally.
 
[Editor’s Note: The death toll does not include residents of Pauktaw, where the fighting was ongoing at press time.]