A 72-year-old man is in hospital after being hit by two bullets in gunfire from a military camp in Kachin State’s Waingmaw Township on Wednesday afternoon.
U Hlkawng Bawk was at his home in Shwe Nyaung Bin village when gunfire from locally-based Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion 321grazed his head and throat.
Soldiers rushed the man to the military hospital of Northern Command in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State.
“We heard gunshots and were hiding in the house,” Ma Seng Hkawng, granddaughter of the victim, told The Irrawaddy. “There was continuous gunfire and bullets whistled past his head. We don’t know the reason for the gunfire.”
She said that her grandfather had now gained consciousness and that no gunshots were heard on Thursday.
Despite the shooting, there were no clashes reported near Shwe Nyaung Bin village on Wednesday, U San Aung from the Kachin Peace Talk Creation Group told The Irrawaddy.
“I still don’t know the details yet. He is at the military hospital,” said U San Aung.
The Irrawaddy were unable to reach the Burma Army press officer for comment.
Waingmaw Township police station confirmed the case. “Yes, it is right that an old man was shot, he is now at the 300-bed military hospital in Myitkyina,” the police officer told The Irrawaddy.
But the police officer refused to comment on the reason behind the shooting.
