Woman killed by artillery shell after ambush on junta forces in Kani
An elderly woman was killed and two others were injured after junta troops opened fire on Kani, Sagaing Region, with light and heavy weapons on Monday, according to local sources.
The incident occurred soon after resistance forces carried out an ambush in the town’s Ward 3 that left several police officers dead, the sources said.
The deceased victim, who was in her 60s, and another woman were working outside when an artillery shell exploded nearby, a local man told Myanmar Now. The third victim was a 12-year-old boy, he added.
“I heard a boy was hit by shrapnel at his school. There was fighting outside of town and the women were in their fields when they were hit,” he said.
It’s believed that the shells were fired from an army outpost on the Shwe See Khone Pagoda Hill, which is located west of the town’s police station and also near a school, a hospital, and several government buildings.
The shooting began shortly after around 20 police and soldiers were ambushed while patrolling near the Gyo Pin Tha Pagoda in Ward 3 on Monday morning.
According to a statement later released by Battalion 30 of the Yinmarbin District People’s Defence Force (PDF), which claimed responsibility for the attack, a G3-type gun, ammunition, and 200,000 kyat in cash were also seized from the junta troops.
The junta’s information officers did not respond to requests for comment on the ambush and subsequent shelling, and the regime has yet to release a statement.
According to locals, there are at least 100 soldiers stationed in Kani, which is also occupied by a large number of members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia.
Last week, resistance forces raided a Pyu Saw Htee base near the village of Kan Zee in Chaung-U Township, which is located southeast of Kani on the opposite side of the Chindwin River.
Twelve people were detained in that raid, which was carried out on June 13, according to a Monywa District PDF Battalion 5 officer.
“There were no junta personnel at the base when we raided it, only a few Pyu Saw Htee members and their dependents. We also seized some items that they looted from the public,” said the officer.
All 12 of the detainees—who included eight women and two boys, aged 2 and 10—were later transferred to the local anti-junta administration team, he added.
Soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee members based in Kan Zee have been accused of terrorising residents of neighbouring villages by firing at them at night with light and heavy weapons.
