A herder in Myohaung Village, Mogaung Township, Kachin State, was seriously injured after stepping on a landmine while searching for missing cattle.

“The injured man was a local. He was searching for his missing ox near the rubber plantations when he stepped on a landmine. We don’t yet know the full extent of his injuries, but they appear to be serious,” said a relief worker from Mogaung who assisted in transporting the victim to the hospital after the September 23 blast.

The man stepped on a landmine planted near a rubber plantation close to the village, sustaining a serious injury to his left leg and shrapnel wounds across his body.

“The main injury was to his left leg, but he also had shrapnel wounds all over his body. On the way to the hospital, his blood pressure dropped and never recovered during the journey,” the source added.

The landmine victim, a 45-year-old from Myohaung Village, was first taken to Mogaung People’s Hospital before being transferred to People’s Hospital in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State.

It remains unclear which group planted the landmine.

In a similar incident in 2022, a woman from Myaing Village, Mogaung Township, was injured after stepping on a landmine while foraging for wild vegetables in the forest.

Mogaung Township is an area of operations for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its ally, the People’s Defence Force (PDF), as well as their rival, the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA).