Buthidaung: Two women, one of them pregnant, were killed and 7 others were injured after an artillery shell landed and exploded in Kin Taung village in Buthidaung.

Today (25th January) at around 2 AM local time, an artillery shell landed on two houses killing 2 Rohingya women and injuring 7 others in Taung village under Kin Taung village tract situated to the southeastern side of Buthidaung township. 

The shell landed on the houses of U Abdu Nobi and U Nurul Alam respectively. Nur Haba, an 18-year-old daughter of U Abdu Nobi, was killed on the spot and his pregnant daughter-in-law Umai Habi was declared dead in hospital later. His son Mohammed Amin and son in law Jamal Hussein were severely injured and are in critical condition, according to the locals. 

U Nurul Alam’s family was also injured in the explosion. The dead and injured victims were immediately transferred to Buthidaung hospital where the wounded are getting treatment. The two death victims are: 

1: Nur Haba, 18 years old, daughter of U Abdu Nobi
2: Umai Habi, 20 years old, daughter of Molvi Hamid 

The injured victims are:

1: Mohammed Amin, 23 years old, son of Abdu Nobi. Husband of death victim Umai Habi
2: Jamal Hussein, 25 years old, son of U Rashid. Husband of death victim Nur Haba
3. U Nur Mohammed, 30 years old, son of U Nur Alam
4: Dildar Begum, 25 years old, daughter of U Roshan Ali
5: Roshida Begum, 18 years old, daughter of U Abdul Alam
6: Asma, 3 years old, daughter of U Nur Mohammed
7: U Abdul Alam, 40 years old, son of U Sultan

Looking at the trajectory of the shell that damages the mango tree in front of the house of Abdu Nobi before landing on the house, it is apparent that the shell is fired from the northern side of the village. At around 9 AM local time, several Border Guard personnel and Myanmar army soldiers from battalion No. 551 came to the house of Abdul Nobi and cut the branches of the mango tree that the shell hit first before landing on the house. They made some marks on the eastern side of the mango tree to imply that the shell came from the eastern side of the village. Looking at these facts, it is clear that the shell was fired from battalion No. 551 which is located on the northern side of the village. 

“If any group come to investigate, you must say that the shell came from the mountain located to the eastern side of the village and it is fired by Arakan Army (AA)”, military and border guard personnel were said to have ordered. According to the villagers, in the locality that night there was no fighting between Myanmar Army and Arakan Army that could have resulted in a stray shell hitting the village. 

On 7th January, 4 Rohingya children died and 6 more were injured in a similar shelling in Hteit Htoo Pauk village on the southeastern side of Buthidaung. On 8th January, two staffs from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) went to the 3 critically injured persons who were getting treatment in Maungdaw hospital to give support but the Maungdaw district doctor, Dr. Kyaw Maung Maung Thein, disapproved of the meeting. The government has not allowed any support for the injured person nor have they allow any NGO to help the victims. As the Rohingya in Rakhine are still facing the worrisome crime of Genocide, Gambia filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Myanmar state and its military of committing genocide against Rohingya people. On 23rd January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered four provisional measures against Myanmar. Though one of the provisional measures required Myanmar to give full protection to the Rohingya people in Rakhine state from killing or causing bodily or mental harm to the members of the group, including by the military or any irregular armed units, today’s attack is proof that the Myanmar government and her army does not respect the ruling of the ICJ. 

“We will investigate and document the details of all crimes committed by the Myanmar government and military against Rohingya living in Rakhine and share on time with the international organizations,'' said U Myint Zaw, a representative of a local group that collects information on Human Rights violation in Maungdaw district.