Rathedaung Twsp child, nonagenarian wounded by gunfire

By Hnin Nwe 06 Oct 2020

Hnin Nwe | DMG
6 October 2020, Sittwe 

An 8-year-old boy was wounded by heavy weapons fire from a naval vessel in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, according to the boy’s family and local villagers. 

Three other villagers were also injured following heavy weapons and small arms fire from the military boat patrolling the Mayu River, which began firing in the direction of the riverside villages of Kan Pyin and Pyinwan on Tuesday morning. 

A 93-year-old, U Maung Soe from Pyinwan village, was injured in the back and his 8-year-old great-grandson Maung Myo Thant Zin was hit in the neck by shrapnel, their family said. 

“My grandfather’s house and mine are back to back. The heavy gunfire fell onto my grandpa’s house. So, he got injured. A piece of the bullet or shrapnel hit my nephew, who had been hiding in the bunker,” said Ko Sein Htay Maung, who was also wounded and is a grandson of U Maung Soe. 

U Aung San Hla of Kan Pyin village said one of his fellow villagers was injured in the leg due to the explosion of heavy gunfire.  

“His leg has a hole in it and was swollen all over. We don’t have clashes in our place, only the firing from the Tatmadaw boat,” he added. 

DMG attempted to phone Major-General Zaw Min Tun and Brigadier General Ye Yint Aung of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team but was unable to connect with either of them. 

“Currently, the wounded boy and the old man have been receiving treatment at Zedi Pyin Hospital. U Aung Than Sein of Kan Pyin village has been treated in his village,” Ko Sein Htay Maung said. 

A man from Saphokyun Kanpyin IDP camp in Rathedaung Township was seriously injured on October 5 due to small arms fire from a Tatmadaw naval vessel.  He is receiving treatment at Sittwe General Hospital. 

At a press conference on September 26, Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun maintained that the Tatmadaw navy would not militarily engage without reason.  

“If it was not attacked, there is no reason to fire back,” he said. 

Tatmadaw boats on administrative duties plying routes between Sittwe and Rathedaung townships were attacked by Arakan Army troops from Hteeswel village in Rathedaung Township, the Tatmadaw said at the press conference.