A 10-year-old child was killed and his mother injured when Myanmar military junta forces shelled a civilian village in Mon State’s Bilin Township without prior engagement, according to residents.
Units from the junta’s Light Infantry Division 44, based in neighboring Kyaikto Township, fired two artillery shells toward Nyaung Thoke village at around 5:00 p.m. on September 6.
One shell detonated inside the village, killing the 10-year-old child instantly. The victim's mother, a woman in her 40s, suffered shrapnel wounds and is receiving care.
“The child was killed on the spot when the shell landed, and the mother was injured,” a resident told Mon News, emphasizing that no active fighting was occurring in or around the village at the time of the attack.
The shelling marks the latest in a series of indiscriminate attacks targeting civilian areas in Bilin Township. In August, a similar junta artillery strike in Zee Pyaw village killed a five-year-old kindergarten student and wounded at least 11 others.
According to reports from the Karen National Union (KNU), the military regime has increasingly relied on heavy artillery and airstrikes against populated villages across the region, resulting in rising civilian casualties, widespread destruction of homes, and the displacement of thousands of residents.
