Junta artillery strikes set Pauktaw Twsp village aflame

By Admin 05 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
5 December 2023, Pauktaw

Some homes caught fire in Manawthiri Village, part of Arakan State’s Pauktaw Township, on Tuesday after being hit by artillery shells fired by a junta warship, according to locals.

Shells fired by a Myanmar Navy vessel sailing from Sittwe fell in Manawthiri Village at 10 a.m. on December 5, setting structures alight in the village an hour later, said a villager.

“Some homes caught fire after artillery shells landed in the village. Junta soldiers have entered the village just now. We saw homes burning when junta soldiers arrived in the village,” the villager added.

Residents in Manawthiri Village have fled to safer locations due to the junta’s artillery strikes. Manawthiri Village is home to about 1,000 people across 200 households.

“All villagers have fled to safer locations. We don’t know exactly whether there were casualties due to the junta shelling. We saw homes on fire,” another resident said.

Nearly 200 homes in Yeyoepyin and Khamaungdaw villages in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, were burned down by junta soldiers on December 3.

Fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) has been intensifying in Pauktaw since November 16, with regime forces accused of firing heavy weapons into villages on a daily basis.