Relentless gunfire during fighting in Buthidaung Township drove all people from Sin Thay Byin village from their homes on Thursday, according to villagers.

The Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army fought on 28 and 29 August in Buthidaung Township, and the gunfire came from No. 551 Regiment, it forced villagers to flee from their homes.

“About ten elders were left in the village. All the people fled from the village for safety and are taking shelter in villages where their relatives are living,” said U Nur Mahmed from Sin Thay Byin village.

The head of the Western Command Colonel Win Zaw Oo said that there was a clash on Wednesday in Buthidaung Township but there was no fighting or gunfire on Thursday.

A young Muslim night watchman at a prawn pond in Htate Too Pauk village was reportedly shot dead on Thursday night.

Hamed Tu Saung, 35, was shot dead, but no one knows whose gunfire hit him, U Nur Mahmed said.

The AA’s spokesperson Khaing Thukha said that there were clashes in Buthidaung Township on 28 and 29 August.

An artillery shell landed in Sin Thay Byin village on Wednesday, injuring two Muslim women.  

The staff from the government’s Health Care Department and ICRC sent them to Buthidaung hospital on Thursday afternoon.