One civilian killed, three injured in junta air raid on Ramree

By Admin 19 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
19 December 2023, Ramree

One civilian was killed and three others were injured in a junta air raid on Monday in Arakan State’s Ramree town. Many town residents and locals in the surrounding area have fled their homes.

The regime carried out artillery strikes after junta and Arakan Army (AA) troops clashed on the outskirts of Ramree on Monday morning. A junta jet strafed, and ground troops and warships also fired shots and artillery at Ramree town and nearby villages, according to sources on the ground.

A 46-year-old man from Laungchaung Ward was killed in the junta assault. Two girls, 13 and 15, from the same ward, and a 61-year-old man from Nyaungbin Hla Village were injured.

A Ramree resident said: “People in the town were injured. We still don’t know the extent of their injuries. We still can’t return to the town.”

Some houses and filling stations were also destroyed in fires triggered by the junta barrage.

“There are still people in the town. [Most of] those who would not flee yesterday fled today. For the time being, we don’t have access to electricity and we can barely make phone calls,” said a Ramree resident who fled.

Junta troops also reportedly fired shots and artillery at random on Tuesday. 

Hostilities of this nature of relatively new to Ramree Township, which did not suffer from active conflict between junta troops and the AA in previous warring periods.

A woman from Ramree said: “We fled with only the clothes on our backs. We could bring nothing else. Elderly relatives are still trapped in the town. We are concerned for their safety.”

Fighting has been escalating in Arakan State and has spread to Sittwe, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Ann, Myebon and Ramree townships.

On December 17, a junta artillery strike wounded four civilians in Myebon Township’s Kanhtaunggyi town.

According to a DMG tally, 28 civilians were killed and 123 others were injured in Arakan State and neighbouring Paletwa Township, as of December 18, in junta attacks involving artillery, fighter planes and warships.