Shelling kills Muslim university student, injures five others in Maungdaw 

By Admin 13 Jul 2024

DMG Newsroom
13 July 2024, Maungdaw

A Muslim man was reportedly killed and five others were injured in a junta artillery assault on Kanyintan Ward in Maungdaw, Arakan State, on Friday.

A mortar shell fired by the military’s Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion No. 5 in Maungdaw’s Myothugyi Ward hit a home in Kanyintan Ward at around 3 p.m. on July 12, causing the civilian casualties, said a Muslim man in Maungdaw.

“The deceased is a second-year university student. Five others were injured in the mortar attack. The names of the injured are still unknown. The fighting between the military and Arakkha Army (AA) is intensifying,” the Muslim man added.

The AA has been attacking the military’s BGF Battalion No. 5 in Myothugyi Ward, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.

The AA is launching an offensive to take control of Maungdaw, whereas the regime is boosting its defences in downtown Maungdaw, according to the statement.

“The regime relocated its security checkpoint at the entrance to Maungdaw to the Fire Services Department office. The fighting between the military and AA is escalating day by day,” said a community elder in Maungdaw. “The regime launches airstrikes and fires mortar shells into residential areas on a daily basis.”

Civilian casualties continue to rise in Arakan State as the regime, which is defeated militarily, increasingly targets civilian populations.

At least 42 civilians were killed and 94 others were injured by junta gunshots, shellings, airstrikes, landmine blasts and torture at interrogation centres in Arakan State last month, according to a DMG tally.