Fourteen civilians, including five women and two children, were killed in artillery and unguided rocket attacks on residential areas in Lashio, Shan State, according to local sources.
The civilian deaths were caused by the explosion of artillery shells and unguided rockets after the Three Brother Alliance (3BHA) troops launched offensives against the Lashio-based regional military command for two days from 3-4 July, according to Lashio residents.
A Lashio local said, “This morning (4 July), artillery shells hit near the Hkay Nin train station in Ward 9, killing a mother and a child. The shells also hit near Yar Su Thit Private School in Ward 12. I heard that the people hit by the shell explosions were taken to hospital. Also, in Oke Kwin in Ward 11, two young men were decapitated by the shell explosion and another died with his intestines exposed.”
Artillery fire continues near Light Infantry Battalion 507 in Man Aing in Ward 5 of Lashio, and according to Lashio residents, military junta planes are circling over the area.
In a similar incident, a house in Ward 3 of Nam Pawng village was hit by drone bombs at around 8am on 4 July, seriously injuring three people, including two women. The drone attacks coincided with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army – MNDAA’s drone attacks on the junta’s Infantry Battalion 291 in Nam Pawng Ward in Lashio Township, locals reported.
“The shelling hasn’t stopped since it started at 4:30 in the morning. They were fired from Nam Pawng bridge. A novice was also injured when a drone bomb hit the monastery. At 8:30 this morning, something, possibly a drone bomb, fell on a house in Ward 3, injuring three people. Some people had dug trenches, but they had to flee because they were filled with rainwater,” said a woman from Nam Pawng village in Lashio Township.
The victims of the drone bomb attacks on the civilian house in Nam Pawng village were Pi Nang Moe (45), her 18-year-old daughter and U Kyaw Pi (70), who were all seriously injured.
On the evening of 3 July, at around 5pm, a rocket shell exploded on the Pan Oke Monastery compound in Lashio’s Ward 4, killing one civilian and injuring more than seven displaced people and novices, eyewitnesses said.
On the morning of 3 July, a drone bomb killed six members of a family, including women and children, on the spot in their house on Byu Har Street in Ward 1, between the regional military command and the university in Lashio, according to local residents.
Also, in Nam Pawng village, a married couple was injured when a drone bomb from the MNDAA troops struck a civilian house. The woman died on the spot, while the man lost both legs and is receiving medical treatment at Nam Pawng Hospital, according to local sources.
Sent by Shan News.
