29 April 2026 By Nway
MOHNYIN, Myanmar — An 11-year-old girl and a man in his fifties were killed on Tuesday when Myanmar military artillery units fired into residential wards and villages in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State, local sources have confirmed.
The bombardment was reportedly carried out by Artillery Battalion 385, based in Nanmar. At approximately 10:00 AM on 28 April, the unit fired at least three heavy shells into the town’s urban area and the nearby village of Taung Inn.
Witnesses told MPA that one shell struck a home in Taung Inn village, instantly killing an 11-year-old girl who was inside at the time. Meanwhile, two other shells landed in Nanmar’s Shwe Pyi Aye ward. One of the explosions hit the home of 50-year-old U Kyaw Hla, who suffered a fatal head injury and died at the scene.
“U Kyaw Hla was just at his home when the shells hit,” a local resident said. “The scene was devastating. Apart from the deaths, two other neighbours were seriously wounded.”
The casualties include a teenager, aged approximately 15, who lost a leg in the blast, and a woman in her sixties who sustained severe head injuries. Both victims have been rushed to the general hospital in Myitkyina, the state capital, where they are reportedly in critical condition.
The shelling comes amid a significant buildup of military forces in the area. Following the artillery strikes, junta troops reportedly moved into Nanmar’s local high school, the district hospital, and a monastery in Shwe Pyi Aye ward to establish temporary bases.
Military tensions in Mohnyin have been at a breaking point since 23 April, after combined forces of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allies captured two outposts belonging to the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA)—a militia aligned with the junta—near Ohn San Sai village.
As the military continues to lose ground in northern Myanmar, rights monitors warn that the regime is increasingly resorting to indiscriminate shelling of civilian heartlands as a form of collective punishment. For the families in Nanmar, the war has once again reached their doorsteps, turning schools and homes into targets of a conflict that shows no signs of abating.
