Civilians were reportedly killed when their vehicle was hit by an artillery shell just outside Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone in northern Shan State, on Wednesday, according to a local source.
A group of civilians tried to flee Laukkai town on Wednesday morning because of fighting in the area, but just as they were driving out of the town they were forced to turn back because of a clash occurring some way ahead. One of the vehicles was hit by an artillery shell near a group of buildings known locally as Tiger Villas.
A video that went viral online shows a vehicle that has been completely destroyed, and dead bodies scattered around it. The Kokang, a local media outlet, said at least 14 people were killed in the artillery strike. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the casualties.
The victims have not yet been identified.
At the time, junta forces and affiliated local militias were engaged in a clash with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) near the village of Nanhutan, west of the Lay Myet Hnar Pagoda.
The MNDAA said the Myanmar military was responsible for the fatal strike. The group’s spokesman Ko Yang Yang said: “The fighting took place outside Laukkai. There has been no fighting in Laukkai town. The civilian vehicle was hit by artillery fired by [the military’s] regional operations command based in Laukkai. As they were shelling the clash site, a shell landed in the town and hit a civilian vehicle.”
The regime denied responsibility for the attack. The military’s regional operations command is located north of Laukkai, while Wednesday morning’s fighting took place to the south of the town.
On Nov. 11, artillery shells fired by the regional operations command missed their target and landed near civilian vehicles stuck on a road south of Laukkai, killing some civilians.
