Two separate landmine accidents occurred on the same day in Kyaukme Township where rival ethnic armed groups have been at hammer heads fighting over territory in northern Shan State. Landmines are often placed around villages, posing a daily danger to civilians.

According to a local source, one of the explosions happened after a dog stepped on a concealed landmine next to a tea leaf plantation while the animal was helping farmers search for cattle about two miles from Marn Buent.

Loung Nawng died on the way to hospital and another man, aged 32, suffered serious injuries and was taken to Lashio to have shrapnel removed from his leg. The other two people emerged relatively unscathed from the blast, which occurred on Tuesday afternoon, 7 December.

In the second blast, a 40-year-old man was killed after he accidentally detonated the landmine buried outside Pang Sarm.

“When we go to our tea farm or cut trees in the jungle, we are afraid of stepping on the hidden explosive devices planted by the armed groups,” Kam, a 101-year-old woman from Loi Kong, told SHAN.