Four people, including a pregnant woman, injured by shelling in Kayah State

The junta fired heavy artillery at two villages they believed were harboring local People’s Defense Forces.
 

A pregnant woman and her husband were among four people injured by heavy artillery shells when the junta bombarded two villages in Myanmar’s eastern Kayah State.

A spokesman for the Progressive Karenni People’s Force (PKPF) told RFA the shelling started at around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, targeting Wan Pan and Lin Hpon villages.

Locals said more than 10 shells exploded near Lin Hpon and two landed inside the village. The second one exploded near the home of the pregnant woman and her husband.

A PKPF official said the woman received abdominal injuries and her husband was in critical condition after being hit in the leg.

Two men from Wan Pan both received leg injuries when shells went off near their village. They are being treated by aid workers, according to a resident.

Five houses in the two villages were damaged by the shelling, he said. Local media reported that the shells were 120 millimeter and 60 millimeter types.

A spokesman for the anti-junta Karenni People’s Defense Force said infantry battalion 350 (the Kha La Ya) fired the heavy artillery but RFA could not confirm this independently.

RFA’s calls to the junta spokesman for Kayah State, Social Affairs Minister Aung Win Oo, went unanswered on Wednesday.

According to data compiled by RFA based on the statements of civil society groups in Kayah State, 13 civilians, including four children were killed and 33 injured by heavy artillery in Moebye and Pekon townships in neighboring Shan state and in Kayah State’s Loikaw and Demoso townships.