An 11-year-old girl who sustained severe facial injuries when an artillery shell struck her school in Rakhine state arrived by plane in Yangon on Wednesday afternoon for surgery.
Khine May Oo was among at least 17 students who were hurt in the February 13 explosion in Khamway Chaung village in Buthidaung.
She had been receiving treatment in Sittwe, but Yangon general hospital is better equipped for the jaw surgery she needs, said Dr Moe Myint Win, the head of Sittwe hospital.
Tun Maung, the girl’s father, said her condition has improved.
“She can eat a little porridge now. She is conscious and can walk a little,” he told Myanmar Now.
Around 100,000 people have been displaced by recent fighting between the Arakan Army and the military.
The Arakan Army claims it is fighting for greater autonomy in Rakhine, which was an independent kingdom before it was colonised by the Burmese in the late 19th century.
A group of UN experts said Tuesday that at least seven civilians were killed and 1,100 displaced in clashes this month involving helicopters and navy ships.
An internet blackout covering nine townships including Buthidaung was making it more difficult for civilians to track fighting and avoid being caught up in the violence, they added.
“The blanket suspension of mobile internet cannot be justified and must end immediately,” said the experts, who included Myanmar human rights envoy Yanghee Lee.
The AA and the military both deny firing the shell that hit the school and have blamed each other.
Fifteen children from the school were treated at Buthidaung hospital with less serious injuries and two for more severe injuries, said hospital chief Soe Min Thein.
Khine May Oo had injuries to her jaw, face and neck, so was transferred to Sittwe hospital, he added. “We cannot treat broken cheekbones at our hospital,” he said.
Fighting is still going on in Buthidaung, said local Arakan National Party secretary Maung Myint Tun.
