Win Nyunt, Cha Lu Aung  - A 30-year-old Muslim man from Sin Thay Pyin village in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, was shot at about 8 a.m. on February 5, according to the victim’s family.

Ar Mar Nu Lar was shot in the leg near his village while he was carrying firewood, according to Kar Lar, the father of the victim.

“While my son and I were carrying a piece of firewood to our village due to the scarcity of firewood in our village, my son was shot in his leg by the Tatmadaw, from the side of Thonesayta Bon Pagoda,” he said.

He added that the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) clashed on the morning of February 5 between Thonesayta Bon Pagoda and U Yin Thar village, and that the military said it fired at the two men after apparently mistaking the firewood they were hauling for a wounded AA member being carried from the battlefield.

However, Colonel Win Zaw Oo, a spokesperson for the military’s Western Command, told RFA that the Tatmadaw did not shoot Ar Mar Nu Lar.

He was sent to Buthidaung Hospital to receive medical treatment, but was later transferred to Maungdaw Hospital due to the severity of his injuries.

Fighting between the Tatmadaw and the AA has intensified in Arakan State in recent months, with the number of civilian casualties rising alongside the frequency of clashes.