About 12 civilians have been killed in Myanmar as artillery shells landed in a busy market in western Rakhine State.
The ruling military and anti-junta forces have traded blame for this ugly violence that is the latest to rock the Southeast Asian country.
The insurgent group Arakan Army (AA) operating in Rakhine State, bordering Bangladesh, has said that a military warship off the port city of Sittwe had fired shells into Myoma market on Thursday, slaying 12 persons and injuring over 80 people.
The junta had meanwhile, released a statement on state TV channel Myawaddy, stating that the shells were fired by the AA. It had not confirmed the number of casualties though.
Reuters has not been able to autonomously verify the incident but Sittwe and other towns in Rakhine are facing information blackouts as the junta has reenforced internet and mobile data curbs in the state.
Myanmar has been stuck in a cycle of violence since the military seized power from an elected government in a 2021 coup. The junta has since October, caught in the throes of the largest challenge to its grip on power, after armed rebel groups set off coordinated attacks on military outposts in several states across the nation.
