Junta shells blamed for killing boy, injuring teen in two Arakan townships

By Admin 10 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
10 April 2024, Ann

The junta’s indiscriminate artillery strikes killed a boy and injured a teenager in two Arakan State townships on Tuesday, according to local people.

Maung Hsan Lin Tun, the 10-year-old boy, was killed when a mortar shell fired by the military’s Ann-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 373 fell and exploded in Kyaungphyukwin Village on the afternoon of April 9.

“The mortar shell landed in the village while he [the boy] was walking and he was pronounced dead on the spot. Junta jet fighters launched airstrikes on civilian villages yesterday,” said a resident of Ann.

Maung Phyo Min Hein, 16, from Taungnyo Village in Thandwe Township, meanwhile, was injured by an artillery shell fired by a Myanmar Navy ship on the morning of April 9.

He was wounded by the junta artillery strike from a navy vessel along the river near Hsinkhaung Village. There were no indications of any fighting in the area at the time or prior to the incident.

“Two mortar shells landed in the village. He was injured by shrapnel while he was inside his home,” said a family member of the injured.

Junta artillery strikes have forced thousands of local people from Taungnyo Village and nearby areas to flee.

The regime, which has lost nine towns and hundreds of military camps to the Arakan Army (AA) since mid-November, is targeting civilian buildings unrelated to the military, affecting people’s lives and property, including sometimes the roofs over their heads.