The residents of manyvillages under Ponna Kyunt township, which is located a few miles north of theState capital Sittwe, fled as the Burmese soldiers started firing with heavyweapons and also using drones on many occasions.
A boat caught fire after a navyshell fired into Kyauk Seik village, which is situated on Sittwe-Yangonhighway, on 27 November at around 4:30 pm.
"The boat near the bank caught fire after it washit by a large bullet. The scared villagers ran away from the place,” said alocal resident.
Similarly, two unexplodedartillery shells fell into the road of Kyawzan village on 27 Novemberfollowing which the scared residents fled to safer places.
“The junta soldiers have been attacking the Rakhinevillagers along with the Arakan Army (AA) members. We simply do not understandthe motive of soldiers,” added the villager.
Earlier on 20November, three out of five shells fired by the Ponna Kyunt basedLIB 550 had exploded on the mountain near Tan Taung pagoda. Twoothers exploded at the entry point to the village, said a woman resident whotoo fled from their village.
"The villagers fled as theshells fell near the village. They are apprehensive about the resumed battle.Three years back, eight villagers were killed in the Kyauk Seik area. We areworried about our security as the soldiers started shooting in nearbyvillages," she added.
Mentionable is that on 13 April 2020, a shell fired bythe infantry battalion (550) killed eight villagers and wounded another eight.
Currently, the navy personnel are stationed in Kaladanriver near Kyauk Seik village and the infantry battalion continued firing tilla few hours back.
Residents of Kyauk Seik, Ye RoByint, Khamaung Seik and Yongy villages have already left theirplaces.
The Northern Alliance, which includes the AA, hasclaimed that the navy personnel fired heavily on villages like Yo Ngu and KyaukSeik throughout the night.
According to Rakhinesocial activists, the military council continued firing with heavy weapons onpopulated towns and villages intentionally to frighten the civilians.