Five killed and nine injured by air and artillery strikes in Rakhine State

Five civilians were killed and nine were injured by air and artillery strikes in Yoetayoke, Kuntaung and Aungphyupyin villages of Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, on Friday. Ponnagyun, located 21 miles (33 km) northeast of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, was seized by the Arakan Army (AA) in March 2024. 

“Four women and a man were killed instantly. Three women and four men were severely injured after two bombs landed on Yoetayoke village,” a Ponnagyun resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. 

A resident of Ponnagyun’s Aungphyupyin village told DVB that one woman was injured and an unknown number of homes were destroyed in an airstrike on Nov. 7. 

The regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 344 in Sittwe fired artillery shells at Ponnagyun Township injuring a 55-year-old man, residents added. 

“The military intentionally targets civilians,” another Ponnagyun resident told DVB. 

Four civilians, including a child, were also killed and nine others were injured by air and artillery strikes on Ponnagyun’s Pannila village on Oct. 31.