Army shelling kills 4 civilians, including 2 children, in Myanmar’s Shan State
They were among 300 seeking shelter in a monastery in Moebye township.
Rescue teams and locals say shelling by junta forces killed two men and two young sisters in Shan State’s Moebye township on Friday.
The four were among around 300 people who had sought refuge in the township’s Mway Taw Monastery.
A shell hit the monastery at around 6 a.m. Friday, killing the two men in their fifties and two sisters aged seven and 10. The four died on the spot and nine others were critically injured, an official of the Moebye Rescue Team (MRT) told RFA.
“The sound of heavy artillery shelling could be heard last night and a shell landed at the monastery this morning,” said the man, who did not want to be named for safety reasons.
“When people hear the sound of gunfire and shelling here they hide in the monastery and churches as they think they are safe hiding places.”
The names of the dead and injured have not been released due to concerns over the safety of their family members.
The injured, one woman and eight men, are undergoing medical treatment, the MRT official said.
There had been fierce fighting between junta troops and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) in Moebye in early September but it had eased since Monday.
Moebye resident Thit Sar told RFA he thought military council forces targeted the monastery because they knew people were sheltering there.
“There has been no fighting these days. I don’t know why they are not satisfied,” he said.
“Then they fired artillery shells. I think it was a deliberate shot.”
The Moebye PDF issued a warning Thursday, telling people to be careful as junta troops were shelling the township in order to take control of it.
RFA phoned Aung Win Oo, the State Administration Council’s Spokesman for Kayah State, directly across the border from Moebye township, but he did not answer.
On Sept. 9, a five-year-old child was killed and a man was injured in Moebye during a military airstrike by junta forces.
Karenni Civil Organizations announced on Thursday, that more than 100 homes had been flattened by heavy artillery fire in Moebye on Sept. 9 alone.
According to a Progressive Karenni People’s Force (PKPF) statement on Sept. 1 a total of 322 civilians had been killed across Kayah state, along with Moebye and Pekon in Shan State, in the 19 months since the military coup.
The PKPF said 151 members of People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and 1,499 junta troops were killed in the fighting and 1,180 homes and 25 religious buildings were destroyed by the military.
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