Junta shelling injures two civilians in Ann Twsp village

By Admin 29 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
29 April 2024, Ann

Two civilians were injured on Sunday when an artillery shell fired by a Myanmar military regiment fell and exploded in Mellatmaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Ann Township, according to local residents.

A mortar shell fired by the military’s Ann-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 373 landed and exploded in the village on April 28, wounding Ko Maung Myint Zaw, 19, and Daw Ma Nyunt Oo, 52, and burning down a home.

“They were injured after an artillery shell landed and exploded in the village while the two were fleeing to safer locations. Their condition is considered not life-threatening,” said a local resident.

Civilian casualties are reported regularly in Ann Township due to the artillery shells fired by the military’s LIB No. 373 on a daily basis.

Maung Hsan Lin Tun, a 10-year-old boy, was killed when a mortar shell fired by LIB No. 373 fell and exploded in Kyaungphyukwin Village on the afternoon of April 9.

“There may be many civilian casualties on the ground due to the junta’s indiscriminate artillery shelling daily. Civilian casualties cannot be known in real time due to communication line disruptions,” said a resident of Ann.

The Arakkha Army (AA) has launched attacks on the Tawhein tactical command base since March 24, with the military responding to the AA’s offensive manoeuvres with heavy weapons including airstrikes.

The AA has been stepping up assaults on the military’s Tawhein tactical command base, Swaechaung tactical command base, Point 299 and other military camps in Ann Township since March 24. The AA took control of the military’s Tawhein tactical command base near Kazukaing Village in Ann Township on April 27.

Fighting has been raging in Arakan State for more than five months, with the AA seizing nine towns in Arakan State and in neighbouring Chin State. Civilian casualties are on the rise as the regime increasingly fires heavy weapons and carries out airstrikes on towns held by the AA.