Myanmar junta shelling kills eight displaced Rohingya people in Sittwe

Eight Rohingya civilians were killed and nine injured around 9pm on Saturday by a heavy artillery shell fired by junta forces into the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe, local sources said. According to one Sittwe resident, the junta’s Police Battalion 12 stationed in Set Yon Su Ward fired at least two shells, one of which detonated on the boundary between Aung Min Ga Lar and Ka Thea Ywar wards near the city’s centre. “Nine are injured and eight dead, all Muslims. The victims’ genders are still unconfirmed. There are children among them,” the resident told Myanmar Now, citing information from a social welfare group that provided care to the victims. The injured victims were reportedly brought to Sittwe’s main hospital. The resident added that the noise from the artillery had been loud enough to make houses shake. “It was very loud. The houses even shook. They’ve fired from that place far too many times,” the resident said on Sunday, referring to the police battalion’s station. “It had been a while since the last time, then they started shelling again yesterday.” The local news outlet Arakan Princess Media also reported that at least five were killed and many injured by the explosion of a heavy artillery shell. The junta-controlled newspaper Myanmar Alin blamed the Rakhine ethnic armed organisation Arakan Army (AA) for the incident, reporting that “AA terrorists” had carried out an artillery strike on Ka Thea Ywar Ward that killed five residents and injured nine. The regime-run outlets also said that there was a 12-year-old among those killed and a three-year-old among those injured by the AA’s heavy weapons. They claimed the guns had fired from west of Thea Khon village, Pauktaw Township—a mile south of Sittwe across the Kaladan River—at around 10:10am on Saturday. They added that the injured people had been sent to Sittwe General Hospital and that regime officials considered the actions of the “AA terrorists” totally intolerable. On February 29, a shell fired from a junta naval base detonated in Sittwe’s Myoma Market near the BTX port (known colloquially as the “Korean port”), resulting in the deaths of at least 12 civilians and injuring around 80, according to the AA. Eyewitnesses estimated that the casualties were higher. Another resident said that the junta forces have been firing heavy weapons every day, so Sittwe’s inhabitants are not even safe in their homes. "The situation in the city is already unsafe. My entire family has moved elsewhere. I was the only one left to take care of the house,” he said. Another Sittwe resident confirmed that many have fled the city because of the junta’s frequent heavy artillery fire, which may hit residential areas, and the risk that fighting may break out at any time. Most of Sittwe’s Rohingya residents live in Aung Min Ga Lar ward. Many Rohingya people also live in villages outside of town such as Thea Chaung, Aung Pin Lel (formerly Baw Du Hpa) and Ywar Thar Yar (formerly Bar Sar Yar). Although they are as eager as their neighbours to flee the shelling and imminent threat of fighting, the military regime’s restrictions on their movements make it impossible to escape. Many Rohingya people, displaced from their homes by targeted ethnic violence and deprived of basic rights or even the recognition of their citizenship, are confined to areas approved by junta authorities. Under the same conditions, Rohingya people in Sittwe Township and elsewhere in Rakhine State were unable to flee to safety and suffered a disproportionate death toll when Cyclone Mocha made landfall in the state in May of 2023. A statue on a beach in Sittwe seen on May 13, before Cyclone Mocha made landfall (Photo: Myanmar Now) Fighting in and near Sittwe is likely to intensify as the Arakan Army (AA)—Rakhine State’s largest and most powerful ethnic armed organisation—continues an offensive operation against the military that began in November of last year. The AA, which has said it plans to attack every junta base in the state, now controls most of the townships in northern Rakhine State and is advancing towards Sittwe, the site of the military’s state-level command headquarters. Junta forces have stationed troops and positioned more heavy artillery in the villages surrounding Sittwe in preparation to defend the township against the AA, according to local sources. AA fighters recently initiated attacks on bases manned by the junta’s Light Infantry Battalions 536, 537, and 538 in Rathedaung Township, located just northwest of Sittwe Township across the Mayu River. They have also continued to attack outposts in the state’s Buthidaung, Maungdaw, and Ramree townships. The junta air force has also escalated attacks on Ramree Township—located some 100 miles southeast of Sittwe—bombing and firing machine guns from fighter planes, Y-12 planes, and helicopters in addition to increasing artillery strikes from the ground. The AA has released statements urging the remaining junta forces in Rakhine State to raise the white flag, warning that they will not stop attacking military bases and promising lenient treatment to soldiers who surrender their arms now.

Myanmar junta shelling kills eight displaced Rohingya people in Sittwe

Due to the military’s restrictions on their movements, displaced Rohingya people remain trapped while most of the city’s residents flee artillery fire and the imminent threat of battles

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