Maung Sar Ga, Narinjara News, 1 August 2024

Over 80 civilians were killed in a single month due toattacks carried out by the military junta in Myanmar, stated the AssistanceAssociation for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

The association in a report, released yesterday,claimed that 84 civilians lost their lives between 1 and 31 July, where thevictims included 24 women. Most of the deaths resulted due to artilleryshelling by the junta forces followed by the airstrikes.

Mandalay and Sagaing regions witnessed the highestnumber of casualties with 15 deaths each and Magway region recorded the secondhighest fatalities (12 deaths).

The report highlighted that five individuals under theage of 18 and eight persons over 60 years old were among the victims.

"The numbers are based on information we havebeen able to gather, but actual figures on the ground may be higher,” added theAAPP.

In Arakan State, despite facing setbacks, the juntasoldiers  continue shelling towns and villages with artillery and the alsoconduct airstrikes on civilian areas, said local residents.

At around 4:30 pm yesterday, the junta's battalion inSittwe and navy personnel simultaneously launched indiscriminate attacks usingmultiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) on Ponnagyun township and Maungdawlocality.

The residents informed  that the shelling lastedfor 20 minutes causing extreme fear and concern among the civilians.

Narinjara News was unable to independently verify thedamages as the  junta has restricted the telephone communications inArakan State.

According to the AAPP,  5,467 civilians were killed and over 27,125 were arrested by the junta forces since themilitary coup took place. Out of the  arrested individuals, 20,809 stillremain under detention and 9,374 were imprisoned.