A Grade 10 student was injured when an artillery shell landed and exploded in Hsinmakyaw Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, on October 29, according to the village administrator.

The victim has been identified as Ma Thein Thein Zan. She sustained a shrapnel wound to her left arm while at home in the village on Saturday.

“I was injured by shrapnel when an artillery shell hit a tree near my home while I was reading. I received medical treatment at Kansauk rural healthcare centre and I was told that my condition is considered not life-threatening,” she told DMG.

Locals have accused the military’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 539, based in

neighbouring Kansauk Village, of firing artillery shells into residential areas.

“Some homes in the village were partially damaged by the military’s shelling,” said U Soe Moe Aung, the administrator of Hsinmakyaw Village.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura regarding the matter.

More than 1,500 residents from villages including Chaungtu and Daywun in Kyauktaw Township, and Buddhaw and Aung Mingalar villages in Ponnagyun Township, have fled to safer locations as LIB No. 539 has reportedly fired artillery shells into residential areas on a regular basis.

The Myanmar military and Arakan Army are currently engaged in active fighting in Arakan State’s Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Minbya, Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun townships, as well as in neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State.