11 civilians killed by junta shell south of Sagaing Region capital

Content Warning: This story contains graphic images. We advise our readers to exercise discretion. Junta forces fired an artillery shell that killed a child and 10 other civilians when it landed in the Hta Naung Taw village market in Monya Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday, according to local media reports. The shell, fired at around 10am on Tuesday by junta troops stationed at Ma-U Gate on the Monywa-Mandalay expressway near the entrance to Monywa, killed three civilian men, seven women, and a young girl. According to the local media outlet Monywa-Ah Myint Lann True News, the explosion also injured 21 people at the busy vegetable market, which is located on the Monywa-Ah Myint Lann Road. “Two died on the spot. About six died after being transported to the urgent care clinic. Three more died at the hospital. The victims killed at the scene were adults who were hit in the head and abdomen,” a Monywa-Ah Myint Lann True News representative said. The deceased included a woman in her 50s; a man and four women in their 40s; one man and one woman in their 30s; two women and one man in their 20s; and the girl, who was 14 years old. “Some had their legs severed at the knees. Another had a foot cut off at the ankle. Among the dead, there was a 14-year-old girl hit in the neck, pelvis and abdomen,” the local media representative said. Injured and deceased victims of an August 13 artillery strike on a village market in Hta Naung Taw village south of Monywa, Sagaing Region (Photo: Monywa-Ah Myint Lann True News) A resident of the area said there had been no recent fighting in the vicinity at the time the junta fired their artillery on Tuesday morning, and that the deceased were only civilian shoppers and vendors at the market. On the afternoon of the same day, resistance forces launched a counterattack on junta troops stationed at the Ma-U Gate and in Nyaung Phyu Pin village about two miles south of Hta Naung Taw using drones and artillery. The junta troops stationed at Ma-U Gate responded by firing artillery again, and their shells injured two more civilians in Lel Taw village between Hta Naung Taw and Nyaung Phyu Pin. After artillery fire continued throughout the day on Tuesday, locals said on Wednesday afternoon that conditions had calmed, with no clashes or artillery fire so far that day. The military has maintained an outpost at Ma-U Gate since late 2021, within months after seizing power from Myanmar’s civilian government in a coup. The troops stationed there are known to collect money from passing vehicles and frequently fire on surrounding villages. "It's a gate at the city entrance. They provide artillery support when there's fighting nearby. Sometimes they just maliciously and drunkenly fire at surrounding villages even without any fighting," said the local resistance group member. “We can tell for certain that the artillery was fired from that gate whenever we hear it.” The junta troops stationed at the Ma-U gate operate under the Northwestern Regional Command headquartered in Monywa. Locals say the troops manning the base are rotated frequently because of their proximity to the headquarters. On August 10, shells fired from Ma-U Gate hit 10 civilians in villages on the Monywa-Ah Myint Lann road, killing two immediately, according to locals. While the Myanmar military still maintains control of Monywa, the armed anti-junta resistance has a strong presence in nearby villages. The military used to send out ground troops to patrol the villages, but has relied more on artillery and drone strikes since the resistance forces gained more ground in the area. Most local civilians are farmers without the means to evacuate their villages easily, forcing them to remain and make a living there despite the constant threat of artillery strikes. “They only flee briefly when military columns come. When the artillery starts firing, they just stay and lie flat on the ground. There are no bunkers, so they can’t do anything but lie low when the troops start firing,” the Monywa-Ah Myint Lann True News representative said. Locals said that the junta troops, who used to fire artillery indiscriminately, have started targeting densely populated areas and crowds. In February, shells fired from the Ma-U Gate hit a tea shop in Hta Naung Taw village, killing four civilians and severely injuring seven others inside. According to the Monywa-Ah Myint Lann True News organisation, in the past three years around 150 civilians have been injured and nearly 50 others have been killed by artillery fire from the Ma-U Gate and other junta and junta-trained militia outposts in the area south of Monywa.

11 civilians killed by junta shell south of Sagaing Region capital

A young girl was among the 11 civilians killed by a junta artillery shell that detonated in a marketplace outside Sagaing Region’s largest city on Tuesday

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