Narinjara News, July 24, 2025

When a middle-aged man went into the forest in Ann Township, Rakhine State, to collect bamboo shoots, he stepped on a landmine and lost a leg.

U Thein Shwe (31), who hails from Nga Letkya Village in Ann Township, Tat Taung District, stepped on the mine.

A local man in Ann told Narinjara News that he was strolling along the river bank on the Ann-Ma Ee road, about two miles from his village, on the morning of July 23 when he stepped on a landmine and lost one of his legs.

“Our area also has a lot of vegetables that grow naturally as a result of the wet season. Because they also have food shortages, the inhabitants gather vegetables and bamboo shoots from the mountains and jungles. He just trod on a mine planted by the military council while picking bamboo shoots,” he said.

Thein Shwe is now receiving care at a nearby hospital.

Due to the fact that Ann Township served as the home for numerous battalions, including the Western Military Command (WMC), the military council forces planted more mines there than in other townships in order to defend their military bases from attacks by the Arakan Army (AA).

Because of this, mine explosions frequently happen, causing fatalities and injuries to people in the area.

Landmines killed and wounded numerous civilians in Ann Township between February and June of this year.

A man from Su Poke Pyin Taw village who was chopping bamboo on the afternoon of June 3 stepped on a landmine at the base of Pulaung Mountain, which caused him to lose his left leg just below the ankle.

A young man who was collecting mangoes on a mountain in Ann Township trod on a mine in the evening of April 20, causing severe injury to his left leg.

In a similar vein, U Maung San, 56, from Sin Khon Taing village, Ann Township, was severely hurt on April 25 when he walked over a mine in a stream on his way to his farm.

A man from Pyoke Kyun village in Ann Township trod on a mine on March 12 while out gathering firewood, breaking his left leg and receiving a small wound to his face.

When a young man walked on a mine while on his way to pick mangoes on a mountain near the Telenor tower in Tat Taung Township, Ann Township, one person died and another was hurt on February 16, 2025.

Due to the abundance of mines, the AA is still clearing the whole town of Ann, a man close to the organization told Narinjara News.

"There are mines in other cities as well, but not as many as Ann. The army laid a large number of landmines both inside and outside the western command. It takes time, but mine clearance is feasible. In Ann Township, there are several unexploded landmines, making it difficult for the AA to clear the area in a short amount of time.

On December 20, 2024, the AA finally took the whole town, but it will be hard to remove all the mines that the military council planted without international assistance.

During the military deployment, a large number of landmines were placed in farmland and along roadsides around the township, including the western division command in Ann Township, as well as in locations around the township and close to the fighting, such as the Ann-Tat Taung Kyaw Road, Ma Ee Taung Kyaw Road, Yo Kyaw Road, and Kazu Kai Road.

In a similar vein, landmines were placed along the route as junta troops fled from camps and battalions, according to locals.

According to local farmers, the remaining weapons and mines that could not be transported during the escape were buried in the forests and mountains, including farmland, and some were also abandoned on the ground.