A man, woman and a 13-year-old girl were killed when artillery shells fired by the Military Operations Command (MOC) No. 9—based in Kyauktaw, Rakhine State—hit a village in the township on Monday night, according to local sources.
The rapid fire of weapons started at 11pm, despite there being no battles with the Arakan Army (AA) in the area, residents said. Around six shells reportedly hit the village of Pisi, home to just 10 households.
A family of three was fatally hit by shrapnel from the blasts, killing Soe Win, 45; Than Than Wai, 44, and their teenage daughter, Phyo Phyo Wai.
“Their house was entirely destroyed. [The military] fired more than 10 artillery shells last night and several this morning,” a local from Pisi told Myanmar Now on Tuesday.
The victims are survived by a son who was working abroad at the time his parents and sister were killed, the Pisi villager said.
A 50-year-old man named Tun Tin was also reportedly injured in the shelling.
Two houses in Pisi were completely destroyed and two were damaged, the local said.
Additionally, two cattle owned by a Pisi villager were killed in the blasts, and two more injured.
Kyauktaw residents said that Myanmar military units including MOC No. 9 have been deliberately targeting civilians in their operations in the township. Shells reportedly fired from MOC No. 9’s base also killed a 30-year-old woman from Pike Thae village on October 17.
Light Infantry Battalion 539, stationed in Kan Sauk, fired artillery on October 29 that detonated in Sin Ma Kyaw village. A girl was injured and two homes were destroyed, according to locals.
Starting on October 22, a 30-soldier junta column occupied a township administration office in Kyauktaw’s Myothit ward for more than a week. Residents said that the troops, who patrolled the town while firing their weapons at random, regularly stopped pedestrians for questioning, and beat several civilians.
The military council has not released information detailing its activities in Rakhine State, where recent clashes have been reported between their forces and those belonging to the AA in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung, Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships, as well as in Paletwa in southern Chin State.
