A total of 71 civilians have been killed or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance in Arakan State, leaving some with severely limited access to medical treatment and their families struggling to meet basic needs.
Currently, returning residents across Arakan State are facing the threat of landmines, and patients injured by landmines are facing financial difficulties in receiving follow-up medical treatment.
Displaced people and locals have lost limbs due to landmine explosions while searching for food or cutting firewood, as they lack jobs and income. It is also reported that, in addition to facing difficulties in receiving medical treatment, they are struggling to provide for their families’ basic needs.
“They had no food to eat, so they had to find food and cut firewood, and were injured by landmines. Our local social workers are helping to a certain extent, but they still have a lot of needs and difficulties, both for medical treatment and for their families,” said a Taungup local involved in social work.
Since January 2025, 19 people have been injured by landmines in Taungup Township. Most of the locals were injured while cutting firewood and gathering vegetables near the conflict areas and the junta’s battalions and brigades, said Taungup residents.
From January 2025 to today, there have been 19 people injured in Taungup Township by landmines, and most of the locals said they were hit while cutting firewood or gathering food near the fighting site and the military council battalions and brigades.
“In Gwa, Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office (HDCO) and local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are providing assistance. There are patients currently receiving treatment, but the challenges are still ongoing,” said a relief worker from Gwa Township.
In Arakan State, there are ongoing landmine explosions as displaced people return to areas where the military council was stationed and where fighting between the military council and the AA was intense.
It has also been reported that some individuals have died due to complications and delays in receiving medical treatment following landmine explosions.
ÒA child in Shwe Zar village, stepped on a landmine inside the home. They tried to take the child to Bangladesh for medical treatment, but they couldn’t make the trip and had to return. Without receiving any treatment, the child didn’t survive,” said a local resident from Maungdaw Township.
In Arakan State, the AA has taken control of up to 14 townships and is conducting mine clearance operations while also working on the reconstruction of homes and resettlement for local residents. However, the local population continues to face the threat of landmines.
According to the records, from January 2025 to 9 May 2025, 71 people, including children, have been killed or injured due to landmines and unexploded ordnance in various townships across Arakan State.
sent by Aung Htein (DMG)