Nine killed and 28 injured in Hpakant as Myanmar military shelling hits civilian areas

Mizzima

At least nine civilians, including a three-year-old child, were killed and 28 others injured in the first week of August in Hpakant Township, Kachin State, amid ongoing military offensives and indiscriminate shelling, according to local residents.

At around 9 pm on 7 August, an artillery shell fired from Hpakant’s strategic hill struck the Kachin Baptist Church (KBC) on Seikmu village’s (Hsengtaung) Sutaung hill, where displaced people were taking shelter. The blast killed a woman named Daw Bwum Sam and injured Ma Ja Seng Htwe Nu Pan, Ma Ja Seng Ywe Eain, Daw La Shee Dwe Lain, Maung Mong Lat Naw, and Maung Jong Luang, local residents said.

“They are displaced people. I’m not sure where they are from,” one local resident said.

The shell hit an area sheltering displaced civilians, where no fighting was taking place, the resident added. Earlier that day, at around 4 pm, the military had carried out an airstrike in a separate area called Ahhmitepon where clashes were ongoing.