Junta mortar fire injures five in Bilin Township monastery

01 June 2023
Junta mortar fire injures five in Bilin Township monastery

A monk, two novice monks and two villagers were injured when the Myanmar junta fired 81mm mortar rounds into their monastery in Mon State’s Bilin Township on 27 May.

The incident happened when the junta’s Field Artillery Regiment 314 based in Zeewun Village, in Thaton Township started firing artillery and mortars in an unprovoked attack on Awungyi Village in Bilin Township in the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 1 controlled area of Thaton District.

A local news source said: “Two shells struck the village monastery. People were hurt inside the monastery. There was no battle near the village at the time. The junta opened fire without any proper reason.”

According to an Awungyi villager, Field Artillery Regiment 314 often kills and injures innocent villagers because it frequently fires heavy weapons into villages in Shwe Yaung Pya Village-Tract, where Awungyi Village is located.

Another villager said: “They frequently fire artillery into the villages. The junta soldiers frequently open fire with artillery, whether or not there has been fighting with the PDFs. Last month, a boy was killed when he was hit by a shell recklessly fired by the junta artillery.”

On 18 March 2023, Saw Po Thingyan, a six-year-old boy was killed on the spot by a junta artillery shell when it landed by a fishing pond on the outskirts of Awungyi Village.

On 29 March 2023, three villagers, including an 80-year-old grandmother, were injured when junta troops fired artillery into Taung Kalay Village, in Shwe Yaung Pya Village-Tract.