Two Muslims injured by junta shelling in Buthidaung Twsp

By DMG 23 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
23 September 2022, Buthidaung

A Muslim man and woman were injured by a junta artillery strike in Thabeik Taung (North) village in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township on Friday morning.

The artillery was fired by a border guard police battalion near Kin Chaung Village. Junta troops are also deployed at the border guard police’s outpost, said villagers.

The victims are 28 and 22 years old, respectively, villagers told DMG.

“The border guard police battalion had been firing shells since the morning. One shell landed on the main road in our village,” a resident of Thabeik Taung told DMG. “The two were hit by shrapnel as they were walking on the road at the time.”

The junta forces fired the shells for no apparent reason as there was no fighting near the village at the time. “They were firing at hills near our village,” said another resident.

Regime soldiers subsequently took away the two injured villagers, saying they would provide medical treatment for them.

Some shells landed on Thabeik Taung (South) Village, but there were no reported injuries. Locals fled to nearby villages following the shelling, said one villager.

“Artillery shells landed near our village monastery, and almost all the villagers have fled,” he said.

Former Lower House lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe of Buthidaung Township: “It is part of their routine, and they are doing this deliberately.”

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura regarding the shelling.

Thousands of civilians have been displaced by renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army since August.