Five civilians were injured early Tuesday by mortar shelling in Rakhine state, with some local residents accusing the government military of intentionally launching the assault on their community, RFA reported.

The shells exploded in Meewa village in Kyauktaw township around 1 a.m., hitting homes and a nearby Buddhist monastery, and injuring the abbot, a novice monk, a teacher, and two students, a village official and a relief worker from a local humanitarian group said.

Village administrator Aung Kyaw Nyunt told RFA’s Myanmar Service that mortar shells that appeared to be deliberately aimed at the community hit the area while most people were asleep, damaging many houses and the monastery.

Brigadier General Win Zaw Oo, spokesman for the Myanmar military’s Western Regional Command responsible for Rakhine state, said rebels near the village initiated the attack, forcing Myanmar troops to fire back.