This Short Update describes events occurring in Tha Htoo (Thaton) Township, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District in May 2024, including indiscriminate shelling that caused casualties, displacement and livelihood challenges. On May 11th 2024, the State Administration Council (SAC) Artillery Unit #314 based in Kya T’Raw army camp indiscriminately shelled mortar rounds in Shwe Yaw Pya village tract after the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the People Defence Force (PDF) attacked the SAC army base beside T’Peh Koh (Kyon Aeik) bridge. The mortar shelling explosions killed two villagers, injured nine villagers (including children), and destroyed 16 houses. All villagers fled in fear to separate places and faced livelihood challenges as a result.[1]

 

 

SAC shelling caused casualties and property destruction                                                                                               

Fighting broke out between the State Administration Council (SAC)[2] and local resistance Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[3] combined with People Defence Force (PDF)[4] at an SAC army camp beside T’Peh Koh (Kyon Aeik) Bridge (located in Shwe Yaw Pya village tract, Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo District), lasting the whole night of 10th May to the morning of 11th May 2024. In the early morning of May 11th, the SAC withdrew from their army camp. Then, the KNLA and PDF destroyed the [T’Peh Koh] bridge, claiming that the SAC were using the bridge for their military operations in Doo Tha Htoo District. In response, the SAC Artillery Unit #314 based in Kya T’Raw (Zi Won), Shwe Yaung Pya village tract, shelled mortar rounds into villages around the area including A---, B---, C---, D--- and E--- villages, as well as many others in Shwe Yaw Pya village tract[5].

Mortar explosions [shelled by the SAC] killed two villagers, injured seven villagers, and destroyed 16 houses in C--- village. The two villagers who were killed by mortar shrapnel were Naw[6] Mya Thein (48 years old) and Saw[7] Zaw Min Htun (48 years old). The seven injured villagers were Naw F--- (42 years old) slightly injured on her neck; Naw G--- (52 years old), injured on her right thigh; Naw H--- (50 years old), slightly injured on her upper back and hip; Saw I--- (73 years old), slightly injured on his right elbow; Naw J--- (11 years old), slightly injured on her right elbow; Naw K--- (4 years old), slightly injured on her right elbow; and Naw L--- (5 years old), slightly injured on her right arm. Two women were also injured in B--- village, Shwe Yaw Pya village tract, one of whom was pregnant. [The names of the two injured villagers in B--- village are unknown.]

The two villagers who were killed by SAC mortar explosions in C--- village were a married couple. Their two young daughters, who are around 10 years old and three years old, are now orphans. The incident happened when the family was running from their house to a nearby bunker. One mortar shell landed after their daughters had reached the bunker but before the parents had entered the bunker. Shrapnel killed both of them immediately. One of the villagers from C--- village, Naw M---, expressed her feelings about the incident to KHRG: “My whole body was shaking when people [other villagers] told me about it. […] They [the two orphans] are now with their [elderly] grandparents from their father’s side. […] I took pity on them a lot when [I saw] she [the older sister] was carrying her younger sister. When she [the older sister] was about to carry her younger sister, she said: ‘We do not have mommy and daddy anymore!!’”

Regarding the situation in the community following the destruction of T’Peh Koh Bridge, Naw M--- explained that the bridge had been rebuilt by the SAC and indiscriminate shelling is ongoing [latest update was in September 2024]. Naw M--- testified: “Whenever we heard the start of the sound of mortar firing, we would have concern in our hearts about where this mortar round would land. […] We could hear the sound [of mortar rounds explosions] every night. When I hear the sound [of mortar rounds explosions], my whole body is shaking [from fear/trauma].”

Most of the injured villagers accessed medical treatment at nearby local clinics, including N--- clinic, under Karen National Union (KNU)[8] administration. The 16 destroyed houses in C--- village were owned by Naw O---, Naw P---, Naw Q---, Saw R---, Naw S---, Saw T---, Naw U---, Saw V---, Naw W---, Naw X---, Naw Y---, Naw Z---, Naw Aa---, Naw Bb---, Naw Cc--- and Naw Dd---.

[Information in this report only includes some of the casualties and destruction from the shelling in Tha Htoo Township in May 2024, focusing only on C--- village. The KHRG researcher could not document the other destruction and casualties in other villages due to security reasons.]

Displacement and livelihood challenges

KHRG has documented the ongoing displacement of villagers from Shwe Yaw Pya village tract since mid-2023 caused by the danger of SAC indiscriminate shelling into their villages. During the displacement period [from mid-2023] until June 2024, some villagers returned to their villages [temporarily] when there was no shelling, and some returned to the villages [only] during the daytime to feed their livestock and return to displacement sites [afterwards], in fear. Some villagers have not returned to their village until now [latest update was received on September 2024].

Naw M---, the villager from C--- village, Shwe Yaw Pya village tract, who had not yet returned to her village [as of June 14th 2024], expressed: “Villagers fled to the forest because we are afraid of shelling and due to the frequent [SAC] mortar shelling into and beside our village. […] There is frequent shelling, and it [the SAC] has continued shelling since I was injured [in mid-2023]. We can hear the sound [of mortar explosions] again and again. After some time, I did not feel secure to live [in the village] anymore and [so] I moved here [to the displacement site]. […] I was in too much fear and I do not feel secure to return to my village. I will live with my son here. […] I do not want it [armed conflict] anymore and I want to go back to live in my home. I have been wanting to return to my village for a very long time already, but I cannot go home yet.”

Displacement leads to livelihood challenges as villagers have to flee in fear, unable to carry food and other household materials with them. They also do not feel safe to work on their farms or plantations to secure their livelihoods. Naw M--- expressed: “We do not feel secure to work [on farms/plantation] for our livelihoods anymore. We just have to flee from [mortar] explosions. They [SAC] shelled [mortar] rounds every day so we will be broken into pieces [by shrapnel] if we are in the village.”

There is a school in C--- village, but the school remains closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and due to the ongoing armed conflict that has escalated since the 2021 coup. Some students go to school in other villages, which are run by the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[9], but many children do not have access to education.

 

 

 

 

Further background reading on the situation in Tha Htoo Township in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:

Fri, 29 Nov 2024

Footnotes: 

[1] The present document is based on information received in June 2024. It was provided by a community member in Doo Tha Htoo 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.

[3] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.

[4] The People’s Defence Force (PDF) is an armed resistance established independently as local civilian militias operating across the country. Following the February 1st 2021 military coup and the ongoing brutal violence enacted by the junta, the majority of these groups began working with the National Unity Government (NUG), a body claiming to be the legitimate government of Burma/Myanmar, which then formalized the PDF on May 5th 2021 as a precursor to a federal army.

[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] Naw is a S’gaw Karen female honorific title used before a person’s name.

[7] Saw is a S'gaw Karen male honorific title used before a person's name.

[8] 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.

[9] The Karen Education and Culture Department is the education department of the Karen National Union. Its main goals are to provide mother tongue education services to rural Karen populations in Southeast Myanmar, as well as to preserve the Karen language, culture and history. Despite being an important education provider in the region, it is not officially recognised by the Myanmar government.

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