A/HRC/42/CRP.5
including a minor, died later from their injuries in a hospital in Minbya Town. At least eight
others, including women and a minor, were seriously injured.774
343. One interviewee explained how his niece’s backside was severely injured in the
attack and how she was taken to the hospital.775 Another witness gave the following
account:
We all fled to the monastery for safe shelter, immediately after the fighting broke out
between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army in the morning. I was upstairs in the
monastery. Around 2 pm, a shell dropped on the monastery. Everything became
dark; we were not able to see.776
344. The monastery suffered severe damage as a result of the shelling and shooting, in
particular its walls, windows and roof.777
345. Witnesses confirmed that neither the Tatmadaw nor the AA were present in the
village during the attack.778 The spokesperson of the Tatmadaw’s Western Regional
Command, Colonel Win Zaw Oo, stated in an interview that “no artillery was fired by the
Tatmadaw across the river and that the AA fired the artillery first, prompting Tatmadaw
soldiers to fire back”.779
346. Villagers who had remained inside their houses ran to the monastery soon after the
munitions hit. They assisted transporting the injured to a hospital in Mrauk-U.780
Myauk Taung, Kyauktaw Township - 19 June 2019
347. On 19 May 2019, a 10-year-old-girl, Athein Chay, was killed while walking
alongside her 14-year-old brother on her way back to her village of Myauk Taung. They
had been visiting a monk in a nearby monastery to donate goods from the family. 781
348. At around 5 pm, before the sun had set and as the children were leaving the
monastery on foot, a military convoy stopped along the highway and opened fire. Athein
Chay was killed by a bullet that struck the back of her head.782 Her brother was able to
escape.
349. There was continuous gunfire, including the sound of shelling, and military presence
throughout the night. Some shells landed in the village, some of which were unexploded.
The Mission received photographs of mortars that villagers claimed to have been found in
the village following the attack, consistent with the testimony. 783
350. Artillery shells also fell near the monastery and pagoda, causing damage to the
temple. Shelling also affected a neighbouring village, Marlar Taung, injuring two more
people, one of whom was a child.784
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
102
CI-321, CI-322, CI-323, See also Frontier Myanmar, “Seven killed in Myanmar monastery shelling:
witnesses” (04 June 2019), The Irrawaddy, “Five Civilians Killed by Artillery Shelling in N.
Rakhine” (03 June 2019), EFE, “Shelling kills at least seven people in Myanmar's Rakhine State” (05
June 2019), Radio Free Asia, “Four Villagers Killed, Six Injured in New Fighting in Myanmar’s
Rakhine State” (03 June 2019), Myanmar Peace Monitor, “The unheeded casualties of war” (03 July
2019).
CI-322.
CI-323.
CI-321, CI-322, CI-323.
CI-321, CI-322, CI-323.
Video available on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmFVqbZJ67E.
CI-321, CI-322, CI-323.
LI-205, The Irrawaddy “Ten-Year-Old Shot Dead in Restive Rakhine State” (20 May 2019), Radio
Free Asia, “Girl Killed, Villagers Hurt by Myanmar Army Gunfire in Rakhine State” (20 May 2019).
LI-205, The Irrawaddy “Ten-Year-Old Shot Dead in Restive Rakhine State” (20 May 2019).
Photographs on file with Mission.
LI-205, Radio Free Asia, “Girl Killed, Villagers Hurt by Myanmar Army Gunfire in Rakhine State”
(20 May 2019).
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