Two children were among four civilians killed when junta artillery and drones pounded villages across Rakhine State on Monday and Tuesday.
Civilian communities in Sittwe, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships were targeted in the wave of attacks, which came after the ethnic Arakan Army launched an anti-regime offensive in the western province.
Two children, both aged 10, and a 60-year-old woman were killed when a shell hit the Muslim village of Warr Chi Lar in Buthidaung Township on Monday. Residents said Light Infantry Battalion 565 based in Buthidaung was responsible for the strike, which also wounded five other civilians.
“They were working on their farm when the shell landed,” a villager told The Irrawaddy.
“There was no fighting. Two children and a woman were killed, and the five who were injured were sent to hospital.”
A 16-year-old girl was also killed in neighboring Mrauk-U Township on Monday night when a shell fired by Light Infantry Battalion 378 based in Mrauk-U town hit Pan Phe Tan village, a resident said.
“Battalions in Mrauk-U have been shelling every evening. Residents can no longer stand the noise [of explosions],” he said.
Junta troops also used a drone to bomb Taung Kan village, near a junta checkpoint outside Sittwe town, on Monday evening. Four men and two women were seriously injured in the attack, said residents.
In Maungdaw, a 50-year-old man from Aung Thukha village was injured on his way to a farm when junta personnel from Inn Din village border guard police station fired shots at him on Monday.
A 35-year-old from Pyin Hla Village in Kyauktaw Township met the same fate on Tuesday morning as he was going to his farm. He was treated for an abdominal wound after being shot by Light Infantry Battalion 376 troops.
The regime has remained silent on civilian casualties inflicted by junta artillery strikes and shootings.
At least 30 civilians have been killed and almost 50 wounded by junta shelling and drone attacks since renewed fighting erupted between regime troops and the ethnic Arakan Army in Rakhine State on November 13, according to local media outlets.
