Junta shelling of village school kills IDP, injures three in Gwa Twsp

By Admin 17 Sep 2024

DMG Newsroom
17 September 2024, Gwa

A woman was killed and three others were injured on Sunday in a junta artillery attack on a village school where internally displaced people (IDPs) are taking refuge in Arakan State's Gwa Township.

The civilian casualties were reported after junta soldiers stationed at the Kalarpyin police station fired mortar shells into Sandar Village on September 15, hitting the school.

"Junta soldiers fired mortar shells into the village without there being any fighting in the vicinity. The [deceased] victim is an elderly woman. Three people - two women and one man - were wounded in the regime artillery assault," said a local resident.

Sandar Village is located between Kyaukpasat and Sarchat villages in Gwa Township.

At least 11 civilians including two children were killed, and 11 others were injured in a junta airstrike on a church in Kyeintali Town, also part of Gwa Township, on August 15.

"The Myanmar military is already killing civilians as enemies. The Myanmar military is killing civilians by saying that they are only firing where the AA's troops are stationed," said a resident of Kyeintali.

Clashes between the military and Arakkha Army (AA) have been reported near Sarchet and Kaingkhon villages and the Gantgawkyun Reservoir in Gwa Township since September 4, with the fighting continuing to intensify as of September 11. The regime provided aerial and artillery support to the scenes of the hostilities.

Fighting between the military and AA began in Gwa Township on August 8 and the ethnic armed group seized control of Kyeintali Town five days later.