Even
though there is no gun fighting going on in rural areas of Sittwe township, the
Burmese army personnel suddenly fired shells on Chi Hlaing Fun village that killed a resident and injured four
others, including a young monk.
The
deceased has been identified as U Nyi Nyi (over 50 years old) hailed from Chi
Hlaing Fun village.
The injured individuals include a young monk
along with his mother. They came to take shelter in the village following
tension in the urban area.
“At the crack of dawn, a heavy weapon was fired. One villager sustained
an injury on his head. The gun fighting ended within a short time,” said a
villager.
He
informed that at about 4 am on Sunday, the Sittwe-based LIB no 232/344
battalion fired with heavy weapons.
The
infantry battalions based in Sittwe and Ponna Kyunt were firing heavy weapons
on residential areas regularly.
As
the military council forces continued targeting the civilians without any
provocation, a wave of criticisms surfaced. Under the guidelines of Rules of
Engagement, the armed forces should not attack unarmed civilians.
On
3 December, the soldiers from LIB no (270) battalion entered Ray Yo Byint and
Kha Mong Taw villages under Ponna Kyunt township. They continued firing and
later set many houses on fire.
While the junta forces are losing important places to ethnic armed groups across
Myanmar, they are using air strikes on the villages and also arresting civilians.
The
Arakan Army (AA) has announced that the soldiers are committing war crimes
against humanity in various locations.
General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman of the military
council, has however denied the development. Even though there is evidence of
the army’s involvement with heavy weapon firing almost every day in both urban
and rural areas, he denied such attack.