Regime shelling reportedly killed two women and injured four people, including a child, in Ye and Kyeikhto townships.
The People's Defence Forces (PDFs) have a strong presence in the townships and Beelin, Thahton townships in Mon State, where groups fighting to overthrow the regime frequently attack army camps and police outposts. The sit-tat (Burma army) often responds by shelling villages with artillery and has killed many innocent people.
A local source, who requested anonymity, told NMG that the regime's Infantry Battalion 31 attacked several villages from its base in Hkaw Zer town and that one of the shells killed 40-year-old Daw Mi Htwe Kyi after hitting her house in Win Tamawt (also called Kyauk Aik) at roughly 3pm on 16 June.
“She died on the spot after shrapnel struck her head” and the next day they attacked it again, but the shells landed outside the village, so nobody was killed or injured, he said. After the shelling, soldiers came to the village and claimed that they weren't responsible for the attacks.
On the same day that Daw Mi Htwe Kyi was killed, a shell struck at around 9.30pm in Ward 1 of Thein Zayap town, killing Daw Aye Aye Nwe (38) and injuring four people, including a 5-year-old child. The regime's artillery battalion frequently attacks villages with artillery from Thein Zayap town and locals suspect it's responsible for the woman's death.
Neither the PDF nor the Karen National Liberation Army have commented on the deadly attacks.