Sittwe residents have confirmed that 12 local residents were killed in an explosion that was fired from the Junta Navy’s warship in the Korean Port Street market near Sittwe (City) Myoma Market, Sittwe City, Rakhine State, in the morning on February 29.
“They fired a heavy weapon at around 8:00 a.m. Twelve people died. More than 30 people were seriously injured. They are receiving treatment at Sittwe Hospital. At first, we thought the Sittwe Police Station was fired. Then we found out that a warship anchored near Viewpoint Camp of the Navy shelled,” said a Sittwe resident.
The Junta’s ship deliberately shot to kill mass people when the people were shopping and selling without any fighting occurring in the place, which is the military junta’s administrative office based in Sittwe and its surrounding areas. By looking at this action, the military junta has blatantly committed a war crime, the Arakan Army said.
“Previously, they shot around usually. There were no heavy weapons. There were shots fired from the police station. But heavy weapons were fired intentionally. Now, the shell fell into Sittwe Myoma Market near the Korean port. There was a lot of damage, and people were killed and seriously injured,” said a resident of Sittwe.
The AA’s Info Desk reported that twelve innocent civilians were killed, 31 were seriously injured, and nearly 50 were lightly injured due to shelling fired on purpose by a junta naval ship.
“They (the Junta’s Navy) did what was unnecessary and shouldn’t have happened. Now that they fired heavy weapons, the people died not one, not two, but in mass. The military junta is committing mass killings again. This is a war crime,” Mr. Mya Tun, the director of the Arakan Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association, told MPA.
The Military Junta, which mainly targets the public, must be accountable and responsible for such actions, and it will investigate and identify those involved in committing war crimes against the people of Rakhine, the Arakan Army added in the statement.
Similarly, the United League of Arakan urged the international community and neighboring countries to stop the mass killings and terrible war crimes.