Heavy artillery fire by junta units killed six residents of Kalay Township, Sagaing Region, in June, including three children under the age of 10.
The six deceased civilians were from the villages of Thar Si, Yae Le U, Hto Mar, Si Thar, and Na Gar Bwet south of Kalay, and close to 20 were injured in the shelling, according to records kept be the Kalay Region Supporting Centre (KRSC).
Soldiers fired one of the heavy artillery shells from a security checkpoint near the edge of the town of Kalay. It fell and detonated inside Na Gar Bwet village on Friday, killing a young girl, according to the KRSC.
“The military fired two shells and a two-year-old girl was killed on the spot in Na Gar Bwet. There hadn’t been any battles in the area,” a KRSC spokesperson told Myanmar Now.
On June 20, a heavy artillery shell fired by the military fell on a house in east Si Thar village and fatally injured a 5-year-old child. Three of the child’s family members also sustained injuries according to social workers helping displaced people in the area.
Four days earlier, another child had been killed and two adults were injured by shells in Thar Si village.
The military fired on Kalay Township’s villages repeatedly for several weeks in June despite the fact that no fighting with resistance forces had broken out in the area.
The military stationed in Zin Ka Lin village, located near the southern edge of Kalay, in early June. They started firing heavy artillery shells at nearby villages at night, and local residents guessed that they did this to deter raids on their base by resistance forces based in the township.
“I think the heavy artillery they’re using these days is more advanced. When the shells explode, they sound louder and seem to go off twice, one after the other. The shells usually fall right inside the villages as well,” said one local man, who requested anonymity out of concern for his safety.
“We can’t know which village they will target or when. We just have to deal with it when it happens. No one can flee because this is the time of year when we have to work our farms,” he added.
Some have dug trenches in their yards for shelter, but most lack the resources or ability to prepare for the attacks, according to local residents.
Kalay Township was one of the first in the country to become a stronghold for resistance forces after the February 2021 military coup.
Last week, the military arrested dozens of vendors and other people wearing flowers in Kalay on suspicion of taking part in a “flower strike” to observe ousted democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday.
