Eight people were killed by shelling in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on Monday, two local officials and a resident said, but the army said it had no information about such an incident and rejected accusations by villagers and insurgents that its forces were involved.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm deaths in the village of Kyauk Seik in Ponnagyun township. A government spokesman did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
“There is fighting going on in northern Rakhine but no such incident of shelling a village. We haven’t received confirmation of civilian casualties so far either,” army spokesman Major General Tun Tun Nyi told Reuters by phone.
Myanmar’s armed forces have been battling the Arakan Army (AA), a rebel group seeking greater autonomy for the western region, for more than a year. Clashes in Rakhine and neighbouring Chin states have escalated in recent weeks, leaving dozens dead and thousands displaced.
Tun Maung, a Ponnagyun lawmaker, said he visited Kyauk Seik and that eight people had died. A local government official in the village, Tun Aye, gave the same death toll. Both said villagers blamed the army for the shelling.
Thar Doe Maung, a Kyauk Seik resident, said the shelling had killed three of his nephews.
The AA said in a statement there had been no clashes between the military and its fighters in the area on Monday and blamed government troops for the shelling.
Journalists are blocked from travelling to most of central and northern Rakhine.
Countries including the United States and Britain have called for an end to fighting in Rakhine, not least to help protect vulnerable communities from the coronavirus pandemic. Myanmar has reported 52 cases of COVID-19 and four deaths.
The AA declared a month-long ceasefire for April along with two other ethnic armed groups, citing the pandemic. The army rejected the plea, with a spokesman saying a previous truce declared by the government went unheeded by insurgents.
