Two civilians were killed in Sagaing Region’s Katha Township late last week as a flotilla of military boats passed through the area on its way north along the Ayeyarwady River.
One victim, a 10-year-old girl named Waso Moe Oo, was killed instantly after she was hit by shrapnel from an artillery shell on August 3, according to a member of the township’s anti-regime People’s Administration Team.
“The girl was in her house when she was hit,” said the official, adding that the incident occurred about 25km south of the township’s administrative centre.
The second victim was an unidentified man found dead later the same day in Kyauk Htone Gyi, a village located on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River, opposite the town of Katha.
The village had been occupied by junta troops for three days prior to the arrival of the military boats, which are believed to be transporting troops and supplies to Bhamo in Kachin State.
Residents of the village said they were rounded up and held at a local monastery until the soldiers left the area. The occupying forces also burned down around 50 homes and took 19 hostages with them as human shields, they added.
Six of the nine boats in the flotilla were said to be transport vessels carrying food, ammunition, and reinforcement troops, while the other three are gunboats, including one armed with an artillery gun.
Local resistance groups have fired on the boats repeatedly with mortar and handmade rockets since they left Mandalay on July 25. Attacks have been reported in Sagaing’s Tigyaing Township, as well as in Katha Township.
Before reaching Sagaing Region, soldiers travelling in the flotilla opened fire on civilians in Mandalay Region’s Madaya Township, injuring at least two people, including a 6-year-old boy.
Similar incidents have been reported along the Chindwin River, which is also used by the regime to move troops and supplies into remote areas of northern Sagaing.
Last week, relief workers reported that at least 5,000 people had been displaced by attacks carried out by regime forces on villages along the Chindwin after seven cargo ships accompanied by two gunboats left Monywa’s Sit Pin Port on July 31.
