
Junta forces shelled villages and shot at residents of Hpakant Township, Kachin State, injuring three last week for reasons that remain unclear, according to local sources.
Soldiers stationed inside the township’s San Hkar Prison fired off at least 10 heavy artillery rounds at around 10am on February 24. Several shells landed in Ma Zup Yang village, and a 24-year-old woman named Ja Eain was wounded on the arms, waist, and thighs, sources said.
“One of the shells landed in front of her house and she was hit while trying to get her children inside,” an officer of a local social welfare group said.
The officer added that she was sent to Hpakant Hospital shortly afterwards and was in stable condition.
Locals also claim several houses in Ma Zup Yang were destroyed by detonating shells.
Two days earlier, San Lin Aung, 30, sustained a gunshot wound while on his way to a pharmacy in Hseng Taung village. He volunteers at a local social welfare group but is an ordinary civilian, a local anti-coup activist said.
“He was going out to buy some medicine at the pharmacy in front of the military base in Hseng Taung at around 10am, but turned back when he saw soldiers, who then shot him in the thigh,” said the activist, a member of the Hpakant Strike Committee.
While the injury was not critical, it did require treatment at the hospital, the activist added.
The third victim was a gemstone dealer who was on his way home in his car with a companion when he was allegedly shot and arrested by junta soldiers near the Ma Shi Ka Htaung crossroads in Hpakant on February 23, according to local sources.
“The bullet went through his car and hit him. We saw blood at the scene of the shooting. We heard one of them was shot and arrested while the other escaped. The car was then towed away,” the activist said.
The military has not released any statements addressing reports that they fired on villages or shot at civilians.
Hpakant Township was the site of junta airstrikes that reportedly killed over 100 people, including civilians as well as Kachin Independence Army (KIA) officers, at an outdoor music festival in October 2022. The township, known worldwide for its jade production, has been the site of frequent fighting in recent months.
The military has been active not just in Kachin State—the base of operations for the KIA, an ethnic armed organisation that has actively supported the anti-coup resistance movement—but also in adjacent areas of Shan State and Sagaing Region.
Fighting has also been escalating in Mansi Township in Kachin State’s Bhamo District—on the border with Shan State—for more than a week. Myanmar Now attempted to reach KIA information officer Col. Naw Bu for his comments on the situation in the field, but did not receive a response.
Junta forces are currently fighting not only KIA forces but also People’s Defence Forces, commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government, in northern Shan State and Kachin State. There have also been repeated airstrikes and clashes between junta and resistance forces on the Sagaing-Kachin border for more than a year.