A 20-year-old pregnant woman and her 25-year-old husband were injured when an artillery shell hit Hsenwi town in northern Shan State on Friday morning.



The shell landed in Ward 3 at around 5:30 a.m. on October 11. According to Hsenwi parliamentarian Sai Oo Kham, the couple received medical treatment in Lashio public hospital.

“Shrapnel hit her in the elbow,” Sai Oo Kham said of the injured woman. “Her husband got injuries to his legs. Shrapnel fragments are still in their bodies—that’s why we sent them to the Lashio hospital.”

It is unconfirmed as to which army fired the shell in question, but locals told SHAN that the Burma Army had opened fire that morning at “suspects.”

The Burma Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fought in downtown Hsenwi on October 9. Three government troops were killed in the attack and seven civilians were injured—that current total of injured civilians is now nine, including six women.

As of Friday, there were no shots fired in the town.

“Currently, our town is completely quiet,” Sai Lao, who lives in Hsenwi, told SHAN, but added that locals were living in fear of renewed clashes.

Sai Oo Kham called on armies to consider the safety of locals.

“Don’t clash in civilian areas and don’t shoot at civilians,” he said.

The Burma Army and joint forces belonging to the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the TNLA have been fighting along the Muse-Mandalay national highway since mid-August. According to local civil society groups, at least 14 people have been killed and 25 have been injured in the clashes.