SHAN STATE – Two residents of Puche Village in Pekhon Township who were delivering corn to Banmauk Village of Pinlaung Township, southern Shan State were hit by heavy artillery fired by the junta council and one of them died, reported the locals.
On December 20 around 2:30 p.m., the two Puche villagers were hit by the heavy artillery fired by Pekhon based junta light infantry 336 between Banmauk Village and Kathe Village of Pinlaung Township while on their way to deliver corn to a store house.
“They were delivering corn to Nanmafu warehouse. They left Pekhon. They were residents of Puche Village. They came by car and were hit by the shell while their car was stopped on the roadside. They were sitting in the back of the car,” said a news source.
The body of the deceased was reportedly brought back to Puche Village by his family while the condition of the other person is unclear.
Puche Village is located next to Pekhon Town and is part of Koneson Village Tract. As the clashes intensified in the Shan-Karenni border, the residents have moved to the IDP camps in western Demoso Township of Karenni State and Nyaungshwe Township of southern Shan State.
After the revolutionary forces entered Mobye and Pekhon during the 1111 Operation, it is said that junta light infantry 336 and artillery battalion in Pekhon have been conducting artillery strikes nonstop.
Lately as the support for displaced people has dried up, some of the displaced people who have their own farms risked returning home to work the fields during the farming and harvest seasons.
However, with the price of fertiliser and fuel jumping to exorbitant levels and the traders purchasing at low prices, the farmers have to risk their lives just so they can barely earn their own living.