Small child among 12 civilians killed by shelling in Rakhine State capital

At least 12 people were killed and more than 80 injured Thursday morning when a heavy artillery shell detonated in the Myoma market in the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe. The shell had reportedly been fired from a naval base near the city’s Ah Nauk San Pya Ward, where the Myanmar army’s Infantry Battalion 20 is stationed. “Six or seven people are dead and many others are injured, but we don’t have exact numbers yet,” a local man said soon after the incident, citing eyewitness accounts. A statement released several hours later by the Arakan Army (AA)—Rakhine State’s largest and most powerful ethnic armed group—said that a death toll of 12 had been confirmed. 81 people had also been injured according to the AA, 31 of them severely. The AA also claimed in its statement that junta forces are intentionally destroying markets, homes, schools, hospitals and other civilian targets, and warned the public to be vigilant. The shelling, which began at around 8am, occurred at a time of day when the market tends to be crowded. Most of the victims were women and a two-year-old child was among those killed, according to local sources. Some locals believed that the troops firing from the naval base were aiming at a battlefield in Ponnagyun Township, where clashes between the AA and junta forces are ongoing, but that some of the shells fell short of their target and landed in Sittwe. “I heard it was directed at Ponnagyun. They’ve fired artillery at Ponnagyun three times a night before today, but this was the first day they fired in the morning,” one Sittwe resident said. “It was intended to be long-range, but I suppose they misfired.” Other Sittwe residents said that junta forces had opened fire with multi-launch rocket artillery at least three times on Thursday morning, but that they did not know whether there had been any return fire. An explosion occurred in Sittwe’s Mi Zan Ward on February 18 at the BXT port near the Myoma market—known locally as the “Korean port”—but there were no reported injuries. Casualty figures from another blast at the Sittwe Airport on the evening of January 15 remain unconfirmed. The responsibility and motives for both previous explosions are still unclear. The AA has been fighting against the Myanmar military regime’s forces for control of the state since November. In less than four months, the AA has occupied the town of Paletwa in southern Chin State and the towns of Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Myebon, and Minbya in northern Rakhine State. AA forces have also launched attacks on army bases in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung townships, and will effectively control all of northern Rakhine State if they succeed in capturing the four remaining towns. The AA is currently surrounding Sittwe, and battles for control of the state capital are likely imminent if explosions, artillery strikes, or other attacks on the city continue. Related story: https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-junta-airstrikes-demolish-rakhine-states-ramree-town/

Small child among 12 civilians killed by shelling in Rakhine State capital

The armed conflict between junta forces and the Arakan Army has spread to Rakhine State’s largest city, where an artillery round killed a dozen people at an open air market on Thursday including a two-year-old

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