At least 19 children were wounded when a primary school was hit by shelling in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, a lawmaker and a military spokesman said on Thursday.
Clashes between government troops and ethnic insurgents have intensified in Rakhine, from where tens of thousands of people have been displaced since clashes began in December 2018, bringing new chaos to a region from which more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled a military crackdown in 2017.
The Arakan Army, which recruits from the nation’s mostly Buddhist majority, has been fighting for greater autonomy for the western region from the central government.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Artillery fire hit the school in the village of Khamwe Chaung in Buthidaung Township on Thursday morning, Tun Aung Thein, a local member of the Burmese Assembly of the Union, told reporters.
He said that he did not know who was responsible.
“According to the health department, 19 students are injured and one is seriously injured,” he added.
A military spokesman put the number of wounded at 20 and blamed the insurgents for the attack.
“We medically treated the students at the nearby military post and sent five to the hospital,” Myanmar Army Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told reporters by telephone.
A spokesman for the Arakan Army denied that its fighters were responsible, saying that they did not have such artillery, and blamed government troops.
The British embassy in Myanmar issued a statement urging an end to the violence, which follows the reinstatement last week of an Internet shutdown in the region.
“The increased violence in Rakhine State over the past few days is causing misery for many of the people living there,” British Ambassador to Myanmar Dan Chugg said.
“Today’s reported shelling of a school on Myanmar’s Children’s Day, following recent deaths of women and children, highlights the impact this is having on innocent people,” Chugg added.
The statement urged all sides to do their utmost to protect civilians and called on the government to lift the Internet restrictions.
A months-long Internet blackout in four Rakhine townships — including Buthidaung — and one in neighboring Chin State had been lifted in September last year as peace talks sought to end clashes.
Officials cited “security requirements and public interest” for the reinstatement.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source