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Print:This Incident Report describes events occurring in Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, in April 2025. On April 8th 2025, two siblings named Maung P--- and Maung R---, from Ca--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township, stepped on two landmines planted by an unknown armed group in their family’s plantation while they were collecting cashew nuts. As a result of the explosion, 17-year-old Maung P--- lost his right leg and 22-year-old Maung R--- lost his left leg. Consequently, villagers in Ca--- village felt unsafe to go to plantations or farms to work. Both the State Administration Council (SAC) and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) are active in the area, so villagers do not know which armed group planted the landmines. The injured villagers face livelihood difficulties.[1]
Part 1 – Incident Details
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Type of Incident |
[Landmine explosion.] Two villagers stepped on two landmines [planted by an unknown armed group]. |
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Date of Incident(s) |
April 8th 2025 |
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Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
Ca--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District. |
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Victim(s) Information |
||
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Name |
Maung[2] P--- |
Maung R--- |
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Age |
17 years old |
22 years old |
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Gender |
Boy |
Man |
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Ethnicity |
Dawei |
Dawei |
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Marital Status |
Single |
Single |
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Occupation |
Plantation worker |
Plantation worker |
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Religion |
Buddhist |
Buddhist |
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Position |
Villager |
Villager |
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Village |
Ca--- village |
Ca--- village |
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Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors) |
||||
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Name(s) |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander’s Name |
|
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Part 2 - Information Quality
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1. Explain in detail how this information was collected. |
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A KHRG researcher heard about this incident from a Ca--- villager named Ko[3] L---, who transported the victims to the hospital. |
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2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
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This information is verified because the villager [Ko L---] who provided the information to the researcher is from the same village as the victims. He witnessed the incident when it happened and transported the victims to the hospital. Also, he stayed at the hospital with the victims and looked after them. |
Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident
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Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. |
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On April 8th 2025, two siblings from Ca--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, named Maung P--- (17 years old) and Maung R--- (22 years old), were going to their [family’s] farm to collect cashew nuts. They arrived at their farm at around 11 am and [started] collecting cashew nuts. At 11:10 am, Maung R--- stepped on a landmine [at the farm]. He lost his left leg [on the spot] due to the explosion.
After Maung R--- stepped on the landmine, his younger brother, Maung P---, went to him and took off his shirt to tie [Maung R---’s] leg [and stop the bleeding]. Then, he [Maung P---] lifted his older brother and prepared to return to their house. After only a few steps from the incident place, he [Maung P---] also stepped on a landmine while carrying his brother. As a result of the explosion, Maung P--- [ultimately] lost his right leg [, as it had to be amputated at the hospital].
When villagers heard the sound of the landmine explosions, they went to check what had happened. They then saw the two brothers crawling on the road [near the farm], so they put them in a car and transported them to a hospital in Dawei Town [administered by the State Administration Council (SAC)[4]]. Ca--- village is located near the [Burma Army[5]’s] Kyauk Mel Taung army camp, which is [also] located in the vicinity of Rv--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township. It only takes 10 minutes [to travel] from Ca--- village to Kyauk Mel Taung army camp by motorbike.
Since the two villagers stepped on the landmines at their plantation, other villagers felt anxious and were not confident enough to go to work at the farms or plantations. Villagers in the area were not sure which armed group planted the landmines, because both Burma Army soldiers and KNLA [Karen National Liberation Army[6]] Battalion #10 are active in the area. Fighting had previously happened between Burma Army soldiers and armed resistance groups nearby the village on an unknown date.
The two villagers who were injured by the landmines have not received any support yet [as of November 2025]. The treatment cost was approximately 8,000,000 Kyat (USD 3,809.52)[7], so they need support [to pay] for it. As these two brothers are also breadwinners for their family, the family faced livelihood challenges due to the incident. They now have to walk with crutches, as they do not have access to prosthetic legs. |
Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details
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Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. |
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The villager named Ko L--- from Ca--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, who looked after the victims, told KHRG that the victims [Maung P--- and Maung R---] allowed KHRG to use this after they were released from the hospital [June 2025]. |
Further background reading on the situation on landmines in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
- Stolen Childhoods: Violations of children’s rights, urgent needs, and local agency in rural Southeast Burma during the conflict, October 2025.
- “Taw Oo District Short Update: A landmine explosion severely injured two villagers, including a 13-year-old, in Daw Hpah Hkoh Township (May 2025)”, July 2025.
- “Mergui-Tavoy District Incident Report: An SAC landmine injured a 51-year-old woman villager (March 2025)”, October 2025.
- Danger Beneath Our Feet - Landmine contamination in Southeast Burma and its impacts on villagers since the 2021 coup, December 2023
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in May 2025. It was provided by a community member in Mergui-Tavoy District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions on the ground. The names of the victims, their photos and the exact locations are censored for security reasons. The parts in square brackets are explanations added by KHRG.
[2] ‘Maung’ is a Burmese male honorific title used before a person’s name.
[3] Ko is a Burmese title meaning older brother. It can be used for relatives as well as non-relatives.
[4] The State Administration Council (SAC) is the executive governing body created in the aftermath of the February 1st 2021 military coup. It was established by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 2nd 2021, and is composed of eight military officers and eight civilians. The chairperson serves as the de facto head of government of Burma/Myanmar and leads the Military Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the government. Min Aung Hlaing assumed the role of SAC chairperson following the coup. The military junta changed its name on July 31st 2025 to State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC).
[5] The terms Burma Army and SAC are used interchangeably throughout this report to describe Burma’s armed forces. Villagers themselves commonly use Burma Army, Burmese soldiers, or alternatively the name adopted by the Burma military regime at the time -since the 2021 coup, the State Administration Council (SAC).
[6] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.
[7] All conversion estimates for the kyat are based on the November 24th mid-market exchange rate of 1,000 kyats to USD 0.48 (taken from https://wise.com/gb/currency-converter/mmk-to-usd-rate ).
