Regime soldiers have shot dead a man in a reportedly unprovoked attack in a village in jade-rich Hpakant Township, Kachin State.
“There was no clash in the village…a man on a motorbike didn’t stop at the bridge, so they fired four bullets and killed him on the spot,” said an anonymous source from a nearby village. He didn’t know the name of the deceased, whose body was taken away by a Red Cross team.
The man was killed after 100 soldiers from the Burma Army’s (BA) Light Infantry Division 33 arrived at the village of Kayin Chaung, in Hseng Tawng village tract, at 7am on Monday.
Another source, who also wished to remain anonymous, said a male road worker was seriously injured by regime shelling around the same time between Hseng Tawng and Hper Pyin.
“Two shells hit near a bridge and the civilian was wounded by the shelling.”
The injured man is receiving critical treatment at Hpakant Public Hospital.
Soldiers reportedly forced villagers to kneel on the ground during their search of Kayin Chaung. Villagers from Kayin Chaung and Hin Tint took shelter from the army in a Buddhist monastery and a Christian church.
As the BA column holds out in Hseng Tawng village tract, residents fear that fighting with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) will soon break out.
From 20 to 22 May, Kachin soldiers attacked BA troops near Wei Hka in Hpakant Township, with the regime reportedly suffering casualties.
