A group of unidentified gunmen shot at a civilian car on the road in northern Shan State’s Kyaukme Township this weekend, wounding one man, according to local sources.
Five gunmen with rifles tried to block the white Toyota on the road near Kong Nyaung village in Loi Saunt village tract at around 8:00 p.m. on August 15. When the car didn’t stop, the gunmen shot ten rounds of bullets at the vehicle.
Three men were in the car—driver Myo, age 30; Aik Saw, 40; and Sai Nay Oo, 23.
“Among them, only Aik Saw got gunshot injuries. A bullet passed through his armpit. It’s a minor injury. He is now receiving medical treatment in Kyaukme hospital,” Tin Maung Thein, chair of Kyaukme’s Ziwita Social Volunteer Team, told SHAN.
The men stayed the night at Aik Saw’s house in Tawng Chay village following the attack. They went to the hospital in Kyaukme town the next morning.
The site of the shooting was near the Upper Yeywa hydropower dam on the Namtu River, a hydropower project widely opposed by locals and civil society organizations due to ongoing conflict in the area, environmental and safety concerns, and the threats to local livelihoods and homes.
Multiple armed groups, including the Burma Army and ethnic armed organizations, as well as militias, are active in Kyaukme District and throughout northern Shan State.
