Four members of the same family were killed after the Tatmadaw shelled a village in Muse District with artillery during fighting with Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in northern Shan State.

According to a local woman, a shell hit a house in Nam Har village, killing the ethnic Ta'ang family, including a child.

The woman told NMG that the Burma Army (BA) fought with the MNDAA in Mongkoe sub township between August 28 and 29. ''After their defeat, BA fired artillery indiscriminately into the area and one of the shells hit the house in Nam Har.''

Locals told NMG that their bodies were cremated on Sunday.

According to an elder from Mongkoe, the BA shelled villages from its camp in Hpoung Seng, explaining that Nam Har is between his village and Hpoung Seng and that the fighting took place near Mang Kwan. The man and many others fled to an internally displaced persons camp on the Chinese border.

''In the morning I work on my farm, but in the evening I return to my hut on the border. We are too scared to return to our house because there is a lot of fighting there,'' he said.

Most people fled Nam Har on the morning of August 29 before the shell landed in the village, tragically killing the family.

According to MNDAA, the military suffered many casualties on August 28, including the death of two of their battalion commanders. The Kokang armed organisation reported killing at least five BA soldiers and wounding at least 20 others, while it suffered no casualties itself. The MNDAA said it captured weapons, ammunition and other military equipment during the battle.

The following day, BA attacked MNDAA, with both sides engaging in a firefight for more than two hours.