Two girls injured by junta shelling in Mrauk-U Twsp

By DMG 29 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 September 2022, Mrauk-U

Two girls were injured after an artillery shell fell and exploded in Moung Swel Village, part of Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township, at about 2 p.m. on Thursday, according to locals.

Heavy weapons and small arms fire were heard after what is believed to have been a landmine explosion occurred near Nadin Village, about a 15-minute walk from Moung Swel Village. Following the gunfire, an artillery shell struck a home in Moung Swel Village, injuring two girls aged 3 and 12.

“I heard a landmine blast in the afternoon and small arms were fired without a clash. A home was hit by an artillery shell, injuring two girls,” said a resident of Moung Swel Village.

DMG phoned Major-General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the regime, for comment on locals’ accusation that the military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 378, which is stationed about one mile from Moung Swel Village, had fired the artillery shell, but he could not be reached.

Meanwhile, a man in his 40s has gone missing after he went to his farmland near the village during the time of the hostilities, said his wife.

“My husband phoned me that he had heard a landmine blast and heavy weapons fire. He told me not to leave the house and hung up. I have lost contact with him since then,” she added.

Residents have fled to nearby villages following the shelling, and only elderly people remained in the village. Some artillery shells have since landed near the village, said a local woman from Moung Swel Village.

“The military continues firing heavy weapons. The sounds of the weapons are deafening. The ground was shaking due to the sound of artillery shells,” she added.

There are about 150 households and 800 people who call Moung Swel Village home, almost all of whom have fled to safer locations since Thursday’s shelling.

Six civilians have been killed and 23 others wounded in shelling amid renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Arakan State since August, according to data compiled by DMG.

Caption: A child was injured by a junta shelling in Moung Swel Village, Mrauk-U Township, on September 29.