Mizzima-Aug 10
At least nine civilians, including a three-year-old child, were killed and 28 others injured in the first week of August in Hpakant Township, Kachin State, amid ongoing military offensives and indiscriminate shelling, according to local residents. At around 9 pm on 7 August, an artillery shell fired from Hpakant’s strategic hill struck the Kachin Baptist Church (KBC) on Seikmu village’s (Hsengtaung) Sutaung hill, where displaced people were taking shelter. The blast killed a woman named Daw Bwum Sam and injured Ma Ja Seng Htwe Nu Pan, Ma Ja Seng Ywe Eain, Daw La Shee Dwe Lain, Maung Mong Lat Naw, and Maung Jong Luang, local residents said. “They are displaced people. I’m not sure where they are from,” one local resident said. The shell hit an area sheltering displaced civilians, where no fighting was taking place, the resident added. Earlier that day, at around 4 pm, the military had carried out an airstrike in a separate area called Ahhmitepon where clashes were ongoing.
On 3 August, an artillery shell landed in Shayawkha village, killing a 21-year-old man and injuring two others, according to locals. That same day, four people were injured when another shell hit Sankywe village. Among them was 88-year-old Daw Nyo Sein, who died from her injuries on 5 August. On 4 August, an artillery shell struck Myauk Phyu village in Hpakant Township, killing a three-year-old child and a 35-year-old man, and injuring five others. Clashes occur frequently in Hpakant, and artillery shells often fall on civilian areas far from the front lines. “If heavy weapons are fired, they don’t only target the fighting zones – they fire everywhere. You should never stay in the path of incoming shells,” one local source said. According to Colonel Naw Bu, spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military has been advancing into Hpakant Township since late May to reclaim lost territory and cut off the KIO-KIA’s financial channels. Read mor at:
