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Print:This Incident Report describes an event which occurred in Moo (Mone) Township, Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District. On December 28th 2025, the Burma Army shelled Aa--- village, Moo special area, injuring a villager named Maung A--- on his thigh while he was working in his plantation field. He was sent to Ab--- clinic for treatment. His family’s financial difficulties have increased after he sustained injury. Following the shelling incident, villagers have developed a fear of living in the village; thus, some villagers have lived outside of the village, while some have dug bunkers to continue living in the village.[1]
Part 1 – Incident Details
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Type of Incident |
Shelling and injury. |
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Date of Incident(s) |
December 28th 2025 |
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Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
Aa--- village, Moo special area, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. |
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Victim Information |
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Name |
Maung[2] A--- |
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Age |
38 years old |
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Gender |
Man |
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Ethnicity |
Bamar[3] |
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Marital Status |
Married |
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Occupation |
Farmer |
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Religion |
Buddhist |
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Position |
Villager |
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Village |
Aa--- village, Moo special area, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. |
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Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors) |
||||
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Name(s) |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander’s Name |
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Unknown |
Unknown |
[Burma Army[4] unit,] Unknown |
Nan Thar Kwin [village tract[5], Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District] |
Min Aung Hlaing[6]
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Part 2 - Information Quality
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1. Explain in detail how this information was collected. |
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The KHRG researcher saw this information on Moo Township news [social media page on Facebook] and contacted the local authority [the village head assistant]. The researcher received insightful information from the village head assistant and later, visited the incident location to do documentation [including an interview with the victim]. |
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2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
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The researcher interviewed the victim, Maung A---, and talked to the local authorities and other villagers who witnessed the incident. |
Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident
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Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. |
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On December 28th 2025, the Burma [Army], based in Nan Thar Kwin village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District, fired two shells. The two shells landed and exploded in a plantation field, located near Aa--- village, Moo special area, Moo Township, owned by Maung A---. [No fighting was occurring the area at the time of the shelling.]
When the shelling happened, Maung A--- was [on his way to] water his plants in his plantation field. As he turned on the water generator [to pump water for his plants], the shells landed near him, and he sustained injury on his left thigh. He felt an extreme pain and could not walk by himself [so he stayed still on the spot]. [Maung A---’s plantation was also damaged by the shelling.] He expressed in an interview: “When I got injured, I could not stand or walk by myself. I felt inconsolable feelings. I have never wanted to participate in the revolution, so I’ve been working on my plantation field, in my village. Then, this thing [the shelling] happened to me. [I wondered:] did I carry the unavoidable fate to encounter this shelling or was it just bad luck[7]?”
About 15 to 20 minutes after the shelling, the neighbours of Maung A--- found him [lying on the ground]. The neighbours saw that he sustained an injury, so he was sent to a doctor, a member of the CDM [Civil Disobedient Movement][8], [who lives] in Aa--- village. He was later referred to a clinic administered by the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)[9] in Ab--- village, Kyaw Pya village tract, Moo Township, for further treatment. [It is unknown to KHRG how much he paid for his treatment, but KDHW clinics are usually fee-free.]
Later, he shared his worries in the interview: “I have three children. Two children are in grade four and one is in kindergarten. My wife is also pregnant. I had aimed to provide daily food for my family despite the difficulties [before he sustained the injury]. There are many things that do not go well [after he sustained injury]. So, I’ve been feeling sad. When I got hit, I wondered how I could support my family now. I’ve felt inconsolable feelings.” He continued: “We are farmers. To have food daily, we have to work daily. We hunt frogs and fish for our daily food. This is the situation of our livelihoods. So, when the shelling happened, we had to flee, but we did not have money to flee. We could not even afford for our daily food. We have stayed in the village [because there is no other way to survive]. If I must die, so be it. We have stayed in the village because we have livelihood difficulties [don’t have enough money to flee]. We have been living in fear.”
The villagers do not know why the Burma Army conducted shelling into the village. However, some villagers believe that the Burma Army fired mortar shells [into the village indiscriminately] because they wanted to target the villagers as their enemy [they believe the Burma Army chose to treat villagers as combatants]. Thus, the villagers from the village have felt greater fear [of staying in the village] following the shelling, [and some villagers have displaced themselves outside of the village]. Since the shelling, the villagers have also stayed alert while traveling and working [in the plantation fields] to support their livelihoods. The shelling incident has built anxiety for the villagers [to live in the village] and has caused [safety and livelihood] challenges for the villagers.
As a result of the shelling incident, villagers have dug enough bunkers for all families [who stay in the village]. Maung A--- shared: “We were scared that the shelling would happen again. We have not been able to sleep properly while feeling unsafe [from the shelling]. We, as a whole family, have slept in bunkers.” |
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 victim, Maung A---, allowed [KHRG] to use this information as needed. |
Further background reading on the situation of shelling in Kler Lwee Htoo District 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.
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: SAC conducted mortar shelling that injured six villagers, including an 8-year-old child (March 2025)”, September 2025.
- “Photo Set: Shelling of villages in Southeast Burma by the Burma Army, the BGF, and other affiliated armed groups, and its impacts (January to November 2025)”, December 2025.
On December 28th 2025, the Burma Army, based in Nan Thar Kwin village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District, fired two shells, and the shells landed and exploded in a plantation field, located near Aa--- village, Moo special area, Moo Township, owned by a local villager named Maung A---. The shelling injured Maung A---’s left leg. The photo shows a hole in the plantation field where one of the shells landed. [Photo: KHRG]
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in January 2026. It was provided by a community member in Kler Lwee Htoo District who has been trained by KHRG as a researcher 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: #26-16-I1; and #26-16-A1-I1.
[2] ‘Maung’ is a Burmese male honorific title used before a person’s name.
[3] The majority ethnic group in Myanmar, also known as ethnic Burmese or Burman.
[4] The terms Burma military, Burma Army, SAC, Tatmadaw, and junta are used interchangeably throughout this report to describe the Burma military regime’s armed forces. Villagers themselves commonly use Burma Army, Burmese soldiers, or alternatively the name adopted by the Burma military regime at the time —from the 2021 coup to July 2025, the State Administration Council (SAC). On July 31st 2025, the military junta changed its name to the State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC).
[5] A village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large village.
[6] A Senior General in the Burma Army who has served as the chairman of the executive body governing Burma/Myanmar since February 2021, first called the State Administration Council and later renamed as the State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC) in July 2025. He has also served as the Commander-in-Chief of Burma's Armed Forces since March 2011. Min Aung Hlaing seized power after overthrowing the civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1st 2021, ending a nearly ten-year period of civilian rule. He appointed himself as Prime Minister of Burma on August 1st 2021, and became Acting President of Burma on July 22nd 2024
[7] Some villagers express human rights violations or abuses that they have suffered as part of their fate or luck rather than directly blaming the Burma military regime or other powerful actors who commit these violations. KHRG includes this quote to accurately document the villager’s voice while as an organisation also emphasising the overall pattern and source of indiscriminate human rights violations in Southeast Burma.
[8] On February 2nd 2021, healthcare workers at state-run hospitals and medical facilities across Myanmar spearheaded what is being referred to as a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) consisting of labour strikes in protest against the February 1st 2021 military coup. The movement quickly spread to include civil servants from all sectors of the government who are walking off their jobs as a way of non-recognition and non-participation in the military regime. Because of the popularity of the movement, and its seminal role in wider protests across the country, some people have begun using it as a catch-all phrase to include other protest forms like boycotts and pot-banging.
[9] The Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) is the health department of the Karen National Union. It was established in 1956 to address the lack of public healthcare resources in rural Southeast Myanmar. It currently operates a network of community-based clinics in the region, but its capabilities remain limited due to funding constraints.
