Rathedaung couple injured in landmine blast

By DMG 17 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
17 June 2022, Rathedaung 

A couple from Thazigon village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township were injured in a landmine explosion on Friday, according to the villagers. 

The couple in their 50s has been identified as U Aye Sein Tun and Daw Aye Sein Nu. They were injured in a landmine blast while ploughing their farmland about six furlongs from the village, U Maung Kyaw Zan, a village elder, told DMG. 

“The couple was wounded in a landmine blast while working in a field. The condition of the husband is considered life-threatening. We don’t know exactly whether there are more landmines or not because we daren’t go to the scene of the blast,” he added. 

U Aye Sein Tun sustained injuries to his forehead and face and Daw Aye Sein sustained minor injuries to her face. The couple is being taken to Sittwe General Hospital from the village to receive medical treatment, the villagers said. 

There have been clashes between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) on the Mayu Mountain Range near the village in January 2020. Landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) were often found in the area, said U Wizaralinkarya, abbot of the village monastery. 

U Maung Saw Win, chairman of the Mayu Regional Development Association, told DMG that locals are concerned about the dangers of landmines on a daily basis due to the frequent explosions in the area. 

“Locals are worried about the risks of landmines. But if the people do not work, they will go hungry. So they have to work amid the dangers of landmines. Previously, the Myanmar military reportedly cleared landmines along the Yangon-Sittwe road. I want the Myanmar military to clear landmines in our area,” he said. 

An internally displaced person (IDP) was killed and another injured in a landmine explosion near Sanyin village in Arakan State’s Myebon Township on June 14. 

A local man from Paletwa Township, Chin State, was severely injured in a landmine blast on May 30, and an elderly woman from Yokethar village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township was killed in a landmine blast on May 31. 

An elderly man was killed in a landmine explosion near Thaboh Zarphet village in Minbya Township, Arakan State, on May 15. 

At least 56 people were killed and 134 others were injured in landmine and ERW encounters during some two years of fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Arakan State from 2018-2020, according to figures from the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC).