Artillery shells routinely fired from the Myanmar Army’s Bayint Naung camp in Thandaunggyi Township, Karen State, are landing and exploding on plantations in the area, worrying local plantation owners, sources say.
The army camp has been firing indiscriminately with heavy and light weapons every day between 6pm and 10pm and after 4am since around the third week of March, although there have been no armed clashes. Residents of the area say that plantation owners in the vicinity of the camp need to move around carefully.
One local woman said, “They fire from the small hill between the camp and the nearby residential area. It is not too far from us. Yesterday a shell hit right next to my plantation. My plantation is only ten minutes away from my house. A shell also landed in the house compound once. We have to go to the plantations at this time of year. We also cut firewood during the cardamom harvesting season”
“Thandaunggyi is an upland town where the locals live mainly from growing crops such as coffee, cardamom and turmeric.
Although their plantations are being damaged by army shelling, the people of Thanduanggyi have no choice but to tend to their fields to make a living.
While some sources close to the military claim that the shelling is part of military exercises, it is worrying for the locals as the shells are landing in residential agricultural areas.
A local resident, who asked not to be named, said: “Someone from the administration office said that they (the military council troops) are firing shells as part of training. But even if it’s training, they should have designated firing ranges, right? But now the shells are landing indiscriminately in the residential plantations of many residents. It’s non-stop. You can’t even count how many rounds they fire per day. We also hear sounds that seem to come from machine guns, with pauses between shots.
The Bayint Naung army camp is known to provide artillery support when clashes occur in the areas within its reach in Thandaunggyi Township. There have been cases where houses and buildings in and around the town have been damaged or destroyed by the artillery shells fired, according to local sources.
Sent by KIC.