Kyauktaw man dies in landmine blast

By Admin 07 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
7 December 2024, Kyauktaw

A young man from Panphechaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, was killed in a landmine blast on Friday, according to local residents.

Ko Aung Soe Paing, 24, was killed after stepping on a landmine near the military’s Kansauk Village-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 539 on the morning of December 6 while going to cut down firewood.

“He lost his left leg in the landmine explosion. He sustained severe injuries and died on the way to the hospital,” said a resident of Kyauktaw.

Locals said that the area where the landmine explosion occurred was where junta troops had been stationed, and that there were still many landmines left in the ground as a legacy of the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military and Arakkha Army (AA).

Due to a lack of jobs and rising prices, Arakan State residents are facing food shortages and are forced to go to the mountains to earn a living by working random jobs such as collecting vegetables and firewood, which puts them at risk of landmines.

“The regime is still harassing the areas where the fighting has ended. The regime has planted landmines around the areas where junta troops were stationed. And since most military camps are places where grassroots people seek food, it is life-threatening for the locals,” said a young man in Kyauktaw.

Landmines remain in and around junta camps and areas where junta troops were temporarily stationed during the fighting and many locals have been killed and injured by stepping on landmines.

According to the Rakhine State Disabilities Organization, more than 720 civilians were disabled by junta air and artillery strikes, landmines and unexploded ordnance in Myebon, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Pauktaw and Maungdaw townships over the past 11 months.