A house was destroyed in the Kachin State town of Waingmaw on Wednesday night after troops from the Myanmar army’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 58 fired artillery shells at three residential neighbourhoods, according to local residents.
The shelling took place between 8pm and 9pm, said a man who lives near the battalion. He added that one artillery shell narrowly missed a house in Waingmaw’s Hkakun ward.
“They were lucky they were all sleeping at the time. If they had gone out to see where firing was coming from, they might have been hit,” he said of the house’s inhabitants, noting that the shell exploded directly over the house and left pieces of shrapnel on its roof.
There was also an unexploded 60mm artillery shell in the neighbourhood, he added.
Two other Waingmaw wards nearby were also affected by the shelling, according to residents of the town.
Myitkyina residents said they saw three armoured vehicles and a number of military trucks leave for Waingmaw at around the same time as the shelling there on Wednesday night.
Another Waingmaw resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops fired a few shots at a junta post two villages away from IB 58 at around 8pm, and the army troops fired back at them.
KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu was not available for comment on the incident when contacted on Thursday.
The KIA attacked three military bases in the towns of Mogaung and Waingmaw on July 29, including the one where IB 58 is stationed.
There were reports that after the attack, the commander of the battalion was changed and reinforcements were brought in. However, Myanmar Now was unable to independently confirm this information.
Since the July 29 attack, the battalion has fired frequently on parts of the town and nearby villages with both light arms and heavy artillery, according to residents.
Last Sunday, soldiers from IB 58 announced over loudspeakers that residents of the villages of Mading and Labang in Waingmaw Township should move to safer areas as the military responds to KIA offensives.
However, the KIA has denied launching any new attacks since the end of last month and called the military’s recent assaults unprovoked and one-sided.
