YANGON—An explosion killed a Rohingya boy and his father and severely wounded another adult in northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township on Tuesday, according to a village official.
The victims were identified as Mohamad Shofi, 38, his son Husson, 8, and Mohammad Shazam, an adult of unknown age, according to Ah Lel Kyun village administrative official U Win Hla Tun. Mohammad Shazam was transported to Sittwe Hospital for medical treatment this morning, U Win Hla Tun said.
The victims were from Ah Lel Kyun, a village 8 km north of downtown Kyauktaw, said U Win Hla Tun. Ah Lel Kyun is a mixed community, with Buddhist and Muslim settlements within half a mile of one another, he said.
U Win Hla Tun said there had been armed conflict between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) on Monday but that the situation had returned to normal. Then, unexpectedly, there was an explosion near the village on Tuesday morning. He could not clearly determine the nature of the blast that occurred near Mohamad Shofi’s home.
“I tried to inquire [about] details with them [the Muslim villagers] but they did not elaborate,” said U Win Hla Tun.
A Rohingya village official contacted by The Irrawaddy was also unable to provide additional information, and additional calls made on Tuesday afternoon went unanswered.
A Rohingya news blog reported that both the father and his son died from a landmine blast while working at a vegetable farm nearby. The blog said it remains unclear who was responsible for planting the reported landmine near the Rohingya village in Kyauktaw.
As of Wednesday evening, neither the AA nor the website of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief carried any information regarding the death of the two Rohingya from Kyauktaw Township.
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