Myo Thiri Kyaw — An explosion occurred near Waithali village in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township on April 10, injuring two residents of the village.

U Oo Maung Chay, 52, sustained shrapnel wounds on the left side of his body and both legs of Mg Zaw Lin Htay, 14, were seriously injured, according to their family members.

U Oo Maung Chay was hit by shrapnel from the blast at about 5 p.m. while he was heading to his farm outside the village.

“I was carrying a bunch of bamboo and walking along the village road to go to my farm. I saw that a boy was playing on the road. When I heard the sound of an explosion, I crouched down. But pieces of shrapnel hit me. The boy also got injured,” U Oo Maung Chay told DMG.

Both injured villagers were admitted to Mrauk-U Hospital where, according to his relative U Tun Tun Soe, Mg Zaw Lin Htay’s right leg was amputated.

U Oo Maung Chay said he did not know what type of explosive device had injured them.

Unexploded ordnance, from landmines to artillery shells, is frequently encountered by civilians in Arakan State, where conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army has left war remnants strewn both across far-flung battlefields and in and around villages.

The number of civilian casualties due to fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army continues to rise. On April 5, the Burma Monitor research group said that 128 people were killed and 147 were injured last month amid the conflict, across 10 townships in Arakan State and in neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State.