A total of nine civilians from Nat Taung Maw Village in southern Rakhine State’s Thandwe Township were killed by a Myanmar military junta bombardment on Saturday evening, according to residents.
There were no clashes occurring when the indiscriminate shelling began. Sources told The Irrawaddy that regime naval vessels at the Sin Gaung Coast Guard base and the Bar Taung (Bar Hill) base near Thandwe fired artillery rounds at Nat Taung Maw, but other reports said the attack involved aerial bombing. The Irrawaddy couldn’t independently verify the reports.
Six civilians were killed on the spot and three were injured but died as they were being taken to Thandwe Hospital by a rescue team, Thandwe residents told The Irrawaddy.
Nat Taung Maw is situated 17.2 km north of Thandwe town.
According to residents, the rescue team from Thandwe used a water route to reach the village, instead of taking the Thandwe-Taungup Road, as clashes have occurred recently between regime troops and the Arakan Army (AA) in villages along the land route.
“We were not able to identify the gender of the six civilians. But three people who were brought to Thandwe were men,” Thandwe resident Ko Khaing said.
Although no clashes occurred in Nat Taung Maw Village, Yeazin Village, 1.7 km from Nat Taung Maw, has been a battleground for the two groups, with fights frequently breaking out in the first two weeks of May, he added.
On May 14, over 10 civilians were killed by regime shelling there.
“We have heard explosions from the villages every day. The junta forces fire randomly at the villages even when there is no fighting [with the AA],” said Ko Kyaw, another resident of Thandwe.
In southern Rakhine State, clashes started in Thandwe Township’s Outt Nat Maw Village on April 13.
Since then, Shwe Hlay, Lin Thi, Pauk Taw, Alal Ywar and Yeazin villages—all of which are within 32 km of Thandwe—have seen continuous fighting.
During the clashes the military regime has used not only naval forces but also aircraft to support its ground troops, by shelling and bombing the villages.
On May 14, nine civilians in Lin Thi were killed in a junta airstrike.
“The military forces fire artillery shells at those villages from Coast Guard vessels based at the Sin Gaung and Bar Taung bases near Thandwe. They also use aircraft to bomb them,” Ko Khaing said.
According to locals, though fighting broke out in Alal Ywar, a village near Nat Taung Maw, on Sunday, there were no more junta troops left in Shwe Hle, Lin Thi and Pauk Taw villages on the weekend and the AA now has the upper hand in those villages.
On Monday, the AA warned civilians in Thandwe, Buthidaung and Maungdaw to dig bomb shelters to protect themselves from aerial, artillery, and naval bombardments, and to swiftly evacuate to safer areas to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. It urged international organizations based in those areas to relocate to safer places.
Due to the clashes in Thandwe Township, around 300 residents of the town have been displaced to Yangon and nearby villages since Tuesday, Ko Khaing said.
In Rakhine State, the AA has taken control of over half the state—nine out of 17 townships—in the six months since launching a major offensive in November last year.
