Gunfire erupted near Minpon hill, a military base in Minbya township, at around 5 am on August 15, followed shortly afterwards by an artillery shell exploding in the nearby village of Sittara. Residents reported that three people were injured, including a teacher and a student.
The injured, all from Sittara were identified as 13-year-old Maung Ngone Chay, a 7th grade student; Maung Aye Myint Naing, 22, and U Maung Tin Hla, 60, a teacher, according to Sittara Village Administrator U Maung Phyu Tun.
"The artillery was fired at around 6 in the morning. There was also gunfire. An artillery shell fell into the village and exploded injuring people in their homes. The houses of the three injured are all next door to each other. They were each in their own homes when it happened. Aye Myint Naing teaches at the middle school in our village, but he isn’t a government employee,” he said.
A military base in located on Minpon hill, which lies about 1.5 miles northeast of Sittara village. This morning, the sound of shelling and gunfire from the south of Minpon hill could be heard non-stop for more than hour, according to Maung Phyu Tun.
U Hla Maung Thein, a resident of Sittara village, said, “We heard the sound of shelling and gunfire. I don't know for sure if there was a battle. Three people were injured in the village, although not seriously. They are now being treated by the village health officer, ”he told Narinjara.
Maung Tin Hla was was injured in the left ear; Hla Maung Thein was injured on the right thigh and Maung Ngone Chae and Maung Aye Myint Naing suffered a 2 inch long wound to the head. The shell exploded in front of U Nga Pyaw Gyi's house, blowing off the roofs of two houses close by.
The village administrator explained that the Minbya town based 379th Battalion fired the shells to the south of Minpon near Sittara village. The villagers were afraid and are hiding in bomb shelters, he said.
Hla Thein Aung, a state Hluttaw representative from Minbya Township, said “the villagers phoned me and said they could hear the sound of shelling and gunfire. At around 6:20 in the morning, they started shelling from Kyein Taung. Villagers said they heard gunshots from 5 am to 7 am. They called and told me they did not know for sure whether or not it as a battle."
The source could not confirm to Narinjara whether the gunfire near Minpon hill was a clash between the Tatmadaw and the AA.
