Mizzima

Four women were injured and houses were damaged by junta shelling and airstrikes in Muse Township, northern Shan State from 17 to 25 September, according to the Shan Human Rights Foundation.

It happened as the junta was fighting the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

On 17 September, fighting broke out between junta and TNLA troops south of Wein Nang Village, at the southern edge of Muse Town.

In the afternoon of 18 September, about 40 junta troops from Infantry Division (ID) 99, based at Loi Zan Sar and Khu Weing on the outskirts of Muse Town, together with members of the Myo Ma militia, the Kawng Kha militia and the Peing Hsar militia – altogether over 100 soldiers – advanced towards the hilltop temple at Loi Tay Mong, east of Selan Village Tract, where TNLA troops were stationed. 

That evening, at around 8:00 p.m., the junta troops staying at Loi Zan Sar started firing artillery into Man Karn Village, in Selan Village Tract, even though there were no TNLA troops there. The shells hit and damaged several houses in the village, and bomb shrapnel hit a 40-year-old woman, injuring her right thigh.

On 19 September, at around 5:00 p.m., the junta troops staying at Loi Zan Sar started firing artillery into Zan Sar Village, in Selan Village Tract, despite there being no TNLA troops there. The shells hit and damaged two houses, and bomb shrapnel injured two women aged about 50, Nang Ling and Nang Soit, and a 17-year-old girl Nang Eii, in Zan Sar Village. They were sent to Muse Hospital. 

On 20 September, in the morning, during a shelling exchange between junta troops and the TNLA, shells landed on Su Taung Taung Temple, between Muse Town and Selan Village Tract, hitting and injuring the abbot and damaging the temple. A local Shan charity group in Muse came to take the injured abbot to Muse Hospital.

On 25 September, at around 10:00 p.m., junta aircraft dropped ten bombs on Man Harn Village, in Maw Tawng Village Tract, damaging five civilian houses.

Due to the fighting, around 700 residents from Namkat Village Tract, Selan Village Tract, and Wein Nang Village in Muse Township, have fled to Nam Sant Temple, Marn Nim Temple, Pangkham Temple, and Kaung Tad Temple in Muse Township. These villagers had fled fighting at the end of August, but had returned in the first week of September when the fighting died down.