Beijing calls for halt to Myanmar fighting after stray artillery fire injured five in Chinese border town

The incident happened on Wednesday when shells fired from northern Myanmar hit Nansan, a town in Yunnan province, which lies around 2.5km (1.6 miles) from the border. The five people injured in the incident are now being treated in hospital.

One resident of the village said his office windows had been shattered by an explosion, while a nearby mobile phone shop had been badly damaged.

“I ran out [of the office] after I heard the explosion,” said the man, who requested anonymity. “I clearly saw a crater in front of a mobile phone shop and the explosion slightly injured a delivery man and a local resident. Later I saw three [other] people being taken into an ambulance.”

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He added that the ceiling of the mobile phone shop had caved in and its walls were riddled with holes.

A shop owner who lives nearby said: “We were terrified [by the explosion] and worried about our safety. We just want to live safely and we should not be victims of the conflicts across the border.”

The fighting in northern Myanmar started in late October, when an alliance of three rebel armies representing different ethnic groups launched an offensive against the government in Shan state.

Nansan has been caught in the crossfire during previous bouts of fighting in northern Myanmar, including another incident that injured five people in May 2015.