Maungdaw Twsp girl dies of cold while fleeing fighting

By Admin 17 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
17 November 2023, Maungdaw

Among more than 500 locals in Donenyo Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, who were displaced by fighting, a 7-month-old girl reportedly died of a cold amid heavy rains.

Since November 14, the villagers of Donenyo have been sheltering among the forested foothills of Mayu mountain range, about four miles from the village.

The girl died of illness on November 16, according to family members.

“Many residents suffer hardships. Now even a child died of cold. No one can stay in the rain for four days,” said a family member of the deceased.

Donenyo villagers said that many of the village’s 300 children are sick and struggling to get adequate nutrition in the inclement weather conditions.

“It’s raining, so it’s not convenient for us to cook. There are many sick children,” said a resident of Donenyo Village.

Fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) is intensifying after the ethnic armed group launched an offensive on a Border Guard Force outpost near Donenyo Village in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, on Thursday morning, according to locals.

Locals were unable to move to safer locations due to ongoing fighting between the military and AA near Donenyo Village on November 17.

“We don’t know where to flee. We couldn’t find some households. We don’t know if they are killed or alive,” said a local man from Donenyo Village.

The AA attacked a Border Guard Force outpost near Donenyo Village at about 10 a.m. on November 16 amid heavy rains and a junta jet fighter responded to the attack, the ethnic armed group said.

A young girl was wounded when an artillery shell fell and exploded in Thinbawhla Village, Maungdaw Township, on November 13.

More than 1,000 residents from some 10 villages in northern Maungdaw Township have fled their homes since Monday out of fear for their safety as junta battalions launched artillery bombardments.