Civilians, displaced by fighting in northern Shan State, found an artillery shell at a home while returning to their village in Kyaukme Township last Saturday (October 17).

Nang Awng said it was the third bomb found in Pon Wow village in northern Shan State. “I think it was an artillery shell from the Burma Army because Burmese soldiers stayed in the house. If Burmese soldiers stayed in the village, Shan soldiers would not come.”

The Burma Army slept at Pon Wow while fighting RCSS/SSA between October 2 and October 13.

Villagers found two bombs in a home on October 14.

“All the artillery shells remain in the homes. No-one touched them,” Nang Awng told SHAN. Villagers are afraid they will explode.

Burma’s Union Election Commission announced polling for the 2020 general election will be canceled in 12 village-tracts in the township, where over 3,500 people remain displaced by the conflict.