Myanmar soldiers stand guard in Maungdaw. Photo courtesy of Mizzima
YANGON, June 5 (NNN-MIZZIMA) _ Seven people were killed when artillery rounds slammed into a monastery where they were sheltering from firefights between military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, witnesses said Tuesday.
The military has deployed thousands of troops to the western state, where it is locked in bloody battles with AA rebels fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.
On Monday morning, fighting engulfed the village of Sapa Htar in northern Rakhine state’s Minbya township, village leader Myo Kyaw Aung says by phone Tuesday.
He described how villagers took refuge in the local monastery after artillery fire hit several homes.
“Then … shelling hit the monastery,” he said, adding that in addition to the seven deaths, an equal number were injured.
Many of the community of some 800 tried to flee but were trapped by artillery fire.
“We thought we were going to die,” Myo Kyaw Aung said, adding they did not know who had fired the shells.
Access to northern Rakhine state is extremely restricted making independent verification difficult.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun did not confirm the deaths but cast blame for civilian casualties on Arakan Army tactics.
“The area will become less stable if they continue to mount attacks from villages.”
But the rebel group held the military responsible.
“They knew villagers were staying at the monastery,” AA spokesman Khine Thu Kha says
More than 30,000 people have fled their homes in recent months because of the unrest.
A driver was injured Tuesday in a mine blast as he pulled off a main road — the second explosion in the area in five days.
Six of the seven wounded in Monday’s attack managed to reach hospital in the state capital, including two relatives of 53-year-old Hla Saw Shwe.
But his younger sister and niece were killed in the monastery.
“I just want the war to end,” he said sobbing.
