A man was killed by a landmine in Mrauk-U, and two children from a local village were injured by junta heavy artillery in a separate incident in Myanmar’s volatile Rakhine state.
Soe Naing Kyaw, 18, from Mrauk-U town died on Thursday evening when he stepped on a landmine while heading to a local hill.
“He was working at a fuel station near Tha Kwa Sar hill in the city of Mrauk-U. He stepped on a mine when he went up the hill road,” said a local who declined to be named for safety reasons. “Both his legs were blown off. He was sent to the hospital, but he died at around 11 p.m.”
The same day, three-year-old Myint Myint Khine and 14-year-old Khin Moe Aye were injured by a heavy artillery explosion in Maung Swea village, Mrauk-U township.
A villager told RFA that a junta battalion based in Mrauk-U shelled the village after sending in in a military column that had to walk through a minefield laid by the Arakan Army (AA) between Maung Swea and Nar Din villages.
“We heard the loud bangs then the battalion fired heavy artillery. Two shells landed in our village and hit two children and injured them,” the resident, who also requested anonymity, told RFA.
The troops also torched a fuel station, some residential buildings and a chicken farm that lay between the two villages, according to locals.
More than 300 villagers from Maung Swea, Ku Toe and Tha Yet Taw villages fled to the outskirts of Myauk Chaung village due to the shelling until around 8:00 p.m. on Thursday night, according to residents.
RFA has not been able to independently verify the information. Neither the AA side nor the junta council has released any statement on the situation and calls to junta council’s spokesperson Rakhine State Attorney General Hla Thein by RFA went unanswered on Friday.
Rakhine state has seen a resurgence of fighting between the AA and military forces. According to RFA data a total of 11 civilians were killed and 30 injured by the mines and explosive military weapons from July 18 to Oct. 1.