Artillery shells launched by a Tatmadaw troop positioned at a pagoda located 0.8 kilometers east of the village landed on Sinthaybyin Muslim village in Buthidaung Township on the morning of 14 December.

 

“The Tatmadaw troop stationed at the Thonesetabone pagoda launched heavy weapons in the morning at about 7a.m. Some artillery shells landed on our village. There was no report of collateral damage,” a local resident said.

 

In the evening of 13 December, a house from the village was torched by an artillery shell, said U Aung Thaung Shwe, Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Buthidaung Township.

 

“The gunfire on Saturday morning destroyed two other houses. There was no report of fighting near the village,” he added.

 

The DMG phoned Colonel Win Zaw Oo, head of the Western Command, to seek comment on the gunfire, but he couldn’t be reached.