Village administrative officials step on landmines

07 Aug 2019

Khaing Roe La | DMG

7 August, Kyauktaw

Two village administrative officials from Kyauktaw Township stepped on landmines on the morning of 6 August during a trip with a military column, one died and one received serious injuries, according to their families.

The military troop took U Hla Maung, 35, the head of hundred households for Khapaw village and U Thauk Kyar Aung, 51, the head of ten households for the same village, to guide them to go to Mar Lar village, one mile from their village. They stepped on a landmine on a mountain pass.

U Hla Maung received injuries to his left leg and died at the jetty of Mar Lar village during an evacuation to hospital. U Thauk Kyar Aung was hit by pieces of shrapnel on his body and is receiving medical treatment at a regiment based in Kyauktaw, U Pan Thar, elder brother of the injured official, told the DMG.

“My brother has suffered injuries to his body. His eyes also were injured,” U Pan Thar said.

The funeral of U Hla Maung was held in the Khapaw village cemetery on the evening of 6 August according to the ritual of the village. Khapaw village is a Mro village with about 100 houses.

Colonel Win Zaw Oo, head of the Western Command, however, said that the Tatmadaw troop did not take them as their guide.

“They stepped on the landmine in the forest. We did not bring them to guide us. We just helped them get medical treatment,” Colonel Win Zaw Oo said.

After eight months of hostilities between the Tatmadaw and the AA in Arakan State, the number of collateral damage due to landmines and explosive remnants of war has been increasing day after day.