A man and his eight-year-old daughter were seriously injured by a landmine explosion on Monday when they went into a forest to cut firewood in northern Shan State, a local member of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) has reported.
According to SNLD’s Sai Sai, the incident happened around 3pm when Sai Teng Aung and his daughter Nang Mo Leng stepped on a landmine between the villages of Kungao and Pang Nyaung in Hsipaw Township.
“They were going to cut firewood,” said Sai Sai. “The eight-year-old girl has wounds all over her body, including her hands and legs.”
He said the pair were taken to Hsipaw Hospital at 5pm, but due to the severity of the injuries both were transferred to a hospital in Lashio Township two hours later.
This is by no means the first incidence of landmine injuries in and around Hsipaw, where several armed groups are active, including the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), and the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA). However, there is no evidence linking the laying the mines in this area to any particular group.
On April 28, Myanmar Times reported that two German tourists were injured by a landmine blast while hiking in the area.
On July 12, Shan Herald reported that more than 300 villagers in Hsipaw Township had fled their homes because of fighting between TNLA troops and the RCSS/SSA.
According to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, an organisation that documented global landmine use, Burma was ranked third most dangerous country in the world in 2014, after Colombia and Afghanistan.
