Six people were shot dead following a protest against a gold mine in northeastern Myanmar operated by an ethnic army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, two local residents told Radio Free Asia.
The shooting took place on Wednesday afternoon, several hours after about 200 local residents confronted a dozen people digging for gold in an area of northern Shan state’s Kutkai township that is the primary water source for farmland for a village.
Local residents have repeatedly protested against the gold mining operation.
On Wednesday, some of the miners pointed their guns at the demonstrators but eventually left the area, known as Nam Lane Creek, a resident who requested anonymity for security reasons told RFA.
A group of protesters returned to the creek several hours later after cooking and eating in a nearby village, he said.
“They had come back,” he said, referring to the miners. “They had waited for us and then they shot at us. We are just ordinary people.”
Another six people were wounded and were receiving treatment at a hospital, he said.
“As locals, we had no weapons, yet they shot at us like this,” another resident said. “That’s the truth.”
Demand for compensation
The area where the shooting took place is under control of the MNDAA, an armed ethnic group that is allied with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, and the Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, in its struggle against the military junta.
Parts of Kutkai township are controlled by the MNDAA, while the TNLA and the KIA control other parts of the township. Despite their alliance, frequent territorial disputes occur between the three groups, according to local residents.
The second resident told RFA that the shooting was carried out by MNDAA soldiers.
The bodies of the six dead were brought to an MNDAA office where the residents demanded compensation from the group, residents said.
The MNDAA information officer, Li Kyar Win, didn’t immediately respond to an attempt for comment by RFA.
The Chinese Embassy in Yangon also hasn’t responded to an email requesting comment on whether Chinese nationals have been involved in the gold mining operation at Nam Lane Creek.
Illegal mining of gold, as well as jade and rare earth minerals, is rampant in northern Myanmar, where successive governments have failed to regulate the industry for generations.
However, the number of unsanctioned operations has ballooned since the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat amid conflict between junta troops and armed resistance forces in the region.
Translated by Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.