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Print:This Incident Report describes events that occurred in Dooplaya District in July 2025. On July 9th 2025, the State Administration Council (SAC)’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #545, based in Kruh Tuh Town, fired one 120 mm mortar shell into Aa--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract, Kruh Tuh (Kyonedoe) Township, Dooplaya District, which landed in front of a hut where four children were playing and injured them. While three of them sustained minor injuries, one was severely injured on the head and was sent to the Three Pagodas Pass hospital for treatment. The victim received treatment free of charge, and the family also received some donations from villagers during the treatment period. The family is displaced and works as daily labourers to support their livelihood. Due to the fighting, around 30 villagers from areas near Kruh Tuh Town were displaced in the village. The displaced people mainly work on plantation farms or extract rubber latex as daily labourers for their livelihood.[1]
Part 1 – Incident Details
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Type of Incident |
[Shelling.] SAC [State Administration Council (SAC)[2]]’s shelling into a village, injuring four children. |
|
Date of Incident(s) |
July 9th 2025 |
|
Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
Aa--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract[3], Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District. |
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Victim(s) Information |
||||
|
Name |
B--- |
Ma[4] A--- |
Ma C--- |
Maung[5] D--- |
|
Age |
2 years old |
4 years old |
10 years old |
10 months old |
|
Gender |
Boy |
Girl |
Girl |
Boy |
|
Ethnicity |
Pa’O |
Pa’O |
Pa’O |
Pa’O |
|
Marital Status |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Occupation |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Religion |
Buddhist |
Buddhist |
Buddhist |
Buddhist |
|
Position |
- [Villager] |
- [Villager] |
- [Villager] |
- [Villager] |
|
Village |
A farm near Kruh Tuh Town, Kruh Tuh Township. |
A farm near Kruh Tuh Town, Kruh Tuh Township. |
A farm near Kruh Tuh Town, Kruh Tuh Township. |
A farm near Kruh Tuh Town, Kruh Tuh Township. |
|
Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors) |
||||
|
Name(s) |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander’s Name |
|
- |
- |
[SAC] Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[6] #545 |
Kruh Tuh Town, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District |
- |
Part 2 - Information Quality
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1. Explain in detail how you collected this information. |
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The information was provided by an officer of the [Karen National Union (KNU)[7]] documentation group[8] in Kruh Tuh Township. [A KHRG field researcher went to the incident location and conducted interviews with the victims’ grandmother and the village head]. |
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2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
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The interviews were conducted with the grandmother of the four injured children [named Daw[9] E---], and the village head [U[10] F---] [who witnessed the incident]. |
Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident
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Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. |
|
The fighting broke out between the State Administration Council (SAC) and armed resistance groups along the Asian Highway[11] road [between Kruh Tuh Town and Kaw T’Ree Town], in Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District, [beginning] in [April] 2025. SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #545 [based in Kruh Tuh Town], often fired mortar shells into the villages [near Kruh Tuh Town] without any fighting having occurred [nearby the villages].
On July 9th 2025, at 5:30 pm, the SAC indiscriminately fired one 120 mm mortar shell into Aa--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, and it [the mortar shell] landed in front of a [small] hut where four children were playing and injured them. Those four injured children are: Ma A--- (4 years old), who sustained an injury to her head; B--- (2 years old), who sustained an injury to his back; Ma C--- (10 years old), who sustained an injury to her head, ear, and left knee; and Maung D--- (10 months old), who sustained an injury to his face, head, and back.
Among these four injured children, Ma A--- was seriously injured on the head, so [villagers organised] a volunteer car from the village, contacted the DKBA [Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA)[12]], and sent the child to the Three Pagodas Pass hospital [run by the DKBA and located in a town bordering Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province].
Those four children live with their grandmother because their parents work in Thailand. The victims’ family member [grandmother], named Daw E---, explained to KHRG: “The shelling destroyed the entire hut. Fortunately, the children were lucky and sustained only minor injuries, and none of them were in life-threatening danger.”
After the children were injured by the shelling, the villagers [from Aa--- village] provided some money to the victims’ family. The victims did not have to pay for the transportation and treatment. Daw E--- expressed her gratitude and said: “I am in need of money. I am very thankful [to the volunteer team] for transporting the child to the hospital. I am happy because the children have recovered from the injuries.”
When the fighting happens in the areas near Kruh Tuh Town, some villagers flee to Aa--- village, while others flee to other places. The children who were injured by the SAC shelling were displaced people in Aa--- village for about three months. [Previously, they lived on a farm near Kruh Tuh Town]. During displacement, the SAC indiscriminately conducted shelling and injured them. U F---, the village head from Aa--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract, explained to KHRG: “I do not know why they [the SAC] conducted the shelling. The fighting did not happen near the area [Aa--- village]. They indiscriminately conducted this shelling because there were no enemies in the village. Only villagers live in the village. The children who were injured were displaced people. I wish shellings would not happen again in the future.”
There were around 30 villagers from the areas near Kruh Tuh Town displaced in Aa--- village. The displaced people work on plantation farms or extract rubber latex as daily labourers. An international organisation [name censored for security] provided some support to help improve their [the displaced villagers’] livelihoods. |
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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This information can be used. They [the grandmother and village head] do not want the SAC to fire mortars into the village again but said it would be acceptable [to publish the information with censoring, so that the SAC does not retaliate against their village]. |
Further background reading on the situation on shelling in Dooplaya District in Southeast Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
- Defying Hunger : State Administration Council (SAC)’s systematic destruction of civilian livelihoods and food systems in Southeast Burma (January - December 2024), May 2025.
- “Dooplaya District Incident Report: SAC air strikes and shelling caused casualties, destruction, and displacement in Kaw T’Ree Township (May 2025)”, November 2025.
- “Dooplaya District Incident Report: SAC’s Aung Zeya Column shelling injured two villagers and damaged villagers’ houses and properties in Kaw T’Ree Township (April 2025)”, September 2025.
These two photos were taken in July 2025, in Aa---village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District. On July 9th 2025, SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #545 fired one 120 mm mortar shell into Aa--- village. The shell landed in front of a hut and injured four children. These two photos show Ma C--- (10 years old), who was injured on the head, ear, and left knee, and Maung D--- (10 months old), who was injured on the face, head, and back. The children recovered after accessing medical treatment. [Photos: KHRG]
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in July 2025. It was provided by a community member in Dooplaya 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. This document combines several received reports with the following KHRG internal log numbers: # 25-277-I1, #25-277-A1-I1 and #25-277-A2-I1
[2] 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 in July 31st 2025 to State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC).
[3] A village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large village.
[4] ‘Ma’ is a Burmese female honorific title used before a person’s name.
[5] ‘Maung’ is a Burmese male honorific title used before a person’s name.
[6] A Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) comprises 500 soldiers. Most Light Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers, yet up-to-date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. LIBs are primarily used for offensive operations, but they are sometimes used for garrison duties.
[7] The Karen National Union (KNU) is the main Karen political organisation. It was established in 1947 and has been in conflict with the government since 1949. The KNU wields power across large areas of Southeast Myanmar and has been calling for the creation of a democratic federal system since 1976. Although it signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015, following the 2021 coup staged by Burma Army leaders, the KNU officially stated that the NCA has become void.
[8] These documentation teams, formed by groups of researchers, are founded by the Karen National Union (KNU) in the districts, and hence they are part of the KNU district staff members. Their role is to collect and document human rights violations on the ground and share them with KNU's Township and District staff, which then will be shared with the general public through the KNU's media pages and website.
[9] ‘Daw’ is a Burmese female honorific title used before a person’s name.
[10] ‘U’ is a Burmese male honorific title used before a person’s name.
[11] The Asian Highway Network is a United Nations Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific-supported project that aims to link 32 countries in Asia across 141,000 kilometres of roadway. In Burma/Myanmar the project has involved land confiscation and forced labour. For more information about the Asian Highway Network, see: KHRG, “Beautiful Words, Ugly Actions:The Asian Highway in Karen State, Burma”, August 2016; KHRG, “The Asia Highway: Planned Eindu to Kawkareik Town road construction threatens villagers’ livelihoods,” March 2015.
[12] In 1994, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) split from the KNLA over religious considerations. In 2010, the majority of DKBA troops transformed into BGFs, but one faction refused and changed its name to Democratic Karen Benevolent Army in 2012. The DKBA signed the NCA on October 15th 2015.
