An eight-year-old was killed in an explosion after heavy fighting erupted between the Tatmadaw and an ethnic armed group in a village in Namhkhan township, northern Shan State last week.
The heavy artillery also injured three villagers, according to a local youth group leader.
“An elderly woman didn’t receive too severe of injuries. One of the injured people was a man over the age of 40. He is the father of the dead child. He sustained many injuries. He hasn’t arrived in Namhkan Hospital yet. A 38-year-old woman was taken [to the hospital]. She received injuries on her hand and thigh. Then, the child died,” said Ko Mai Mai from Namhkan township’s Ta’ang Youth Group.
Residents said that the sparring broke out between the Tatmadaw and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in the evening on October 19. Several houses were reportedly damaged in the clash.
The TNLA’s information officer, Major Mai Aik Kyaw, told the Network Media Group on October 20 that the fighting was centred around the upper area of Pang Ka Neing Village, Namhkan township.
Ko Mai Mai said the local residents live in a state of alarm because of the fear of the possible outbreak of fighting.
Namhkan township’s Ta’ang Literature and Culture Organization chair U Myint Kyaw urged the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed organizations to stay outside of villages since it harms civilians.
“Fighting should not take place inside the villages anymore. The public is harmed when fighting breaks out inside a village. They lose their livelihood and are injured whenever [fighting] breaks out,” he said. “In the end, only the public suffers.”
The Tatmadaw and the TNLA have clashed on seven occasions in northern Shan State this month, according to the TNLA.
