According to local military sources, one civilian was killed and seven others were injured when the military council troops fired heavy artillery indiscriminately in Hpakant Township, Kachin State. On August 30 at 7 PM, artillery shells fired from the military council base at Taymakan in Hpakant struck Nyaungpinkone village and Mana village, killing 31-year-old Ko Myoe Zaw (aka) Mae Gyi and wounding three other civilians.
Additionally, fighting broke out between the combined forces of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and People’s Defense Force (PDF) against military council troops in the Mawsizar Lonkhin area. Artillery shells fired by the military council exploded near the Htun Tauk fuel shop in Lonkhin, causing injuries to four more civilians. According to local military sources, since the arrival of military council columns in the Hpakant area over three months ago, more than 70 civilians have been killed and approximately 250 injured due to artillery attacks.
The military council continues to conduct almost daily artillery strikes and drone attacks in Hpakant Township. They have also increased security checkpoints in the town, carrying out arrests of young people, while their columns conduct raids on villages and continue killing civilians. Local residents are living in fear due to the military council’s artillery attacks, and many have been forced to flee their homes to seek safety. The situation has created a humanitarian crisis in the area as civilians face ongoing threats from indiscriminate attacks by military forces who show no regard for civilian casualties.
