The incident points to dangers still facing civilians in northern Rakhine state despite a recent cessation of fighting
A woman in northern Rakhine state’s Kyauktaw township suffered severe injuries to her leg and face after she stepped on a landmine on Monday, according to family members.
Khaing San May, 43, was walking up a hill near the village of Ka Baw when the incident occurred, said her brother, Kyaw Hla Htwee.
“She was just going to cut some wood when she stepped on a landmine. We could hear the explosion from the village. Her right leg was cut off, and her eyes were injured, too,” he said.
He added that his sister, who is a mother of three, sold firewood for a living and walked up nearby hillsides on a daily basis.
After receiving emergency medical care at the hospital in Kyauktaw, she was transferred to Sittwe hospital on Tuesday due to the severity of her injuries, he said.
The area has been relatively quiet since early November, when clashes between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) came to a halt after nearly two years of sometimes fierce fighting.
However, the presence of unexploded artillery shells and landmines means that the conflict is still claiming civilian casualties.
In November, a minivan driver and his wife and infant child were killed when their vehicle hit a landmine in Maungdaw township. Six passengers were also injured in the incident.
According to the Rakhine Ethnic Congress, landmines have killed 33 people and injured 68 others in Rakhine since the current conflict began in early 2019.
Between 2011 and 2020, around 1,900 people were killed by landmine explosions in Myanmar, according to the Switzerland-based Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor.
According to the group’s reports, 89 people died and 269 were injured in 2019 alone, with the numbers being especially high in Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states.
Myanmar is one of 32 countries, including China, Russia, and the United States, that have not signed the international Mine Ban Treaty.
The military said it ran mine-clearance operations in Dabatyang, a village in Kachin state’s Waingmaw township, in the third week of December.
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