Villager severely injured in Kyauktaw Twsp landmine blast 

By DMG 17 Aug 2021

DMG Newsroom
17 August 2021, Kyauktaw 

A local from Oo Soon Taung village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township was severely injured when he stepped on a landmine while tending his cattle on Tuesday afternoon, according to family members of the victim. 

The victim has been identified as U Aung Thein Hsan, a 25-year-old man, who was seriously wounded by the landmine blast in a pasture near a Tatmadaw artillery regiment about two miles from the village, said U Aung Hsan Oo, a relative of the victim. 

“He was severely injured in the landmine explosion but his five friends were safe in the blast,” he told DMG. 

The victim was transferred to Sittwe General Hospital via Apaukwa Hospital and his left leg will likely be amputated, U Aung Hsan Oo added. 

Civil society organisations have told DMG that the local government needs to work together with them to increase landmine risk education among populations in conflict-affected parts of Arakan State. 

Local civil society groups such as the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC) and the Wan Lark Rural Development Foundation are working on landmine risk education in Arakan State. 

Landmine risk education has been conducted in some Arakan State townships such as Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Minbya, the REC secretary told DMG recently. 

“It would be good to form a Landmine Action Group in Arakan State. The state-level civil society organisations, governments, and NGOs have formed such groups in other states. With the government’s support, landmine risk education would be much more widespread,” said U Zaw Zaw Tun, the REC secretary. 

During two years of fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army in Arakan State from 2018-2020, civilian children and adults were killed and maimed by landmines. 

The landmine casualties did not stop when the guns fell silent in the waning months of last year, however. 

As of June 2021, at least 49 people were killed and 81 others were injured in explosions of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) during the two years of fighting and its aftermath in Arakan State, according to figures from the REC. Many of the victims were children, the REC said.