An artillery shell that landed on 18 December near a house in Kam Htaung Gyi town, part of Arakan State’s Myebon Township, has killed a 42-year-old woman, according to a member of her family.

The shelling took the life of Daw Khin Mar Yee, said Ko Nay Yee Tun, a member of the victim’s family.

“Guns fired continuously while she was standing in her house compound after she returned from a wedding. Artillery shells landed like rainfall around her house, which is located in the center of Kam Htaung Gyi town. One of them hit her head directly, damaging her skull seriously,” he said.

Ko Nay Yee Tun said reports indicated that the artillery shell was fired from a hilltop locally known as Yay Htoe.

Pyithu Hluttaw MP U Pe Than said the recent artillery shelling had shaken the local community.

“Residents don’t dare go outside,” he said.

Colonel Win Zaw Oo, head of the Tatmadaw’s Western Command, acknowledged that a clash had broken out between Tatmadaw and Arakan Army troops in the days leading up to Wednesday’s shelling, about 5 kilometers east of Kam Htaung Gyi.

“Our troops have been in the northern part of the road. Insurgents have also been in the northern part of the road. What we fired only would have flown northwest. The village is located in the southwest. It is different,” Colonel Win Zaw Oo told DMG, insisting that the Tatmadaw was not responsible for the artillery fire that killed Daw Khin Mar Yee.

Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the AA, argued otherwise, accusing the Tatmadaw of ginning up conflict near Kam Htaung Gyi.

“There was no fighting between us near Kam Htaung Gyi town yesterday,” he told DMG. “The Burmese army created fake fights and fired on the village.”