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Thirteen dead, 28 injured in Rakhine clashes during Thingyan

Throughout Thingyan, as businesses shut down and the rest of the country stayed home to prevent the spread of Covid-19, clashes in Rakhine state killed 13 people and injured at least 28.

More than 100,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Rakhine in the last year and are living in camps that human rights advocates have called “tinderboxes” for spreading disease. 

Diplomats, NGOs, and health officials have called for a ceasefire until the disease is contained. 

“Overcrowding in the camps is pervasive, making physical distancing nearly impossible and significantly increasing the risk of transmission,” Human Rights Watch said on March 30. 

On April 1 the Arakan Army, with several other ethnic armed groups, offered to extend a unilateral ceasefire until the end of April to help prevent an outbreak, but the Tatmadaw called the offer “unrealistic.”

Fighting from April 12 to 16 between the Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw centered in Ann, Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships, regional lawmakers and civil society organisations told Myanmar Now. 

On April 12, shelling in Ann township killed Soe Soe (a) Soe Nge, 18, and injured Than Aung, 52, Tin Mar Win, 42, and Mg Myint Myat, according to Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC) secretary Zaw Zaw Tun. 

The next day, shelling in the Ponnagyun village of Kyauk Seik killed eight people and injured 13, said Khin Maung Latt, a regional MP representing the area.

The dead were all under the age of 25, with the youngest just 13 years old. Four died on the spot, two at the Ponnagyun hospital and two on the way to Sittwe hospital. 

“I heard heavy weapons firing that day and I hid in my house,” said Yu Hlaing May, a resident of the village. 

Kyauk Seik village lies on the Yangon-Sittwe highway, along which most of the Thingyan clashes took place. 

On April 16, the last day of Thingyan, shelling killed four and injured 12 in Kyauktaw township, according to the REC. 

In the same township the following day, shelling killed 14 year-old Nay Toe Tun, 32-year-old Bo Naing Win, 41-year-old Kyaw Kyaw Naing and 19-year-old Myat Thu Maung. 

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