A 7-year-old boy from Nagara Village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township was killed in a shelling at around 11 p.m. on Saturday.

The victim has been identified as Maung Ko Naing, a Grade 2 student. The child was killed when an artillery shell believed to have been fired by the Myanmar regime’s 9th Military Operations Command struck a home, said U Aung Kyaw Tha, a local.

“About five families gathered at a home built of bricks to sleep at the time of the shelling because they felt insecure if they stayed in their homes,” he told DMG. “An artillery shell hit the home while many people were sleeping inside the home. The injured child was taken to a rural clinic for treatment but there was no health worker. The child died without receiving medical treatment.”

The child succumbed to his injuries at about 1 a.m. on September 1.

Following the shelling, nearly half of the village’s population have fled to Kyauktaw and nearby villages such as Thawinkaing, Kyauktan, and Kyauktalone, said U Maung Win, the administrator of Nagara Village.

“Our village is very close to the military’s 9th Military Operations Command. In recent days, members of a family were also wounded by an artillery shell fired by the military. Now locals dare not stay in the village and have fled to safer locations,” the village administrator added.

Four people were also injured in Nagara Village when their house was struck by an artillery shell fired by junta troops on September 20.