This Short Update describes events that occurred in Daw Hpah Hkoh (Thandaunggyi) Township, Taw Oo (Toungoo) District, in December 2024. On December 11th 2024, State Administration Council (SAC) soldiers conducted a drone attack on A--- village, Way Htoo village tract, Daw Hpah Hkoh Township, by dropping three bombs onto the village. Consequently, a villager was killed, a cow was injured, and two houses and some trees were damaged. On December 12th 2024, an unknown SAC military unit carried out a drone attack on B--- village, Way Htoo village tract. Two bombs were dropped, which damaged two villagers’ houses. Local villagers do not know why the SAC conducted drone attacks on their villages.[1]
SAC drone attacks in Way Htoo village tract, Daw Hpah Hkoh Township
First incident: December 11th 2024
On December 11th 2024, at 11 am, State Administration Council (SAC)[2] soldiers conducted a drone attack on A--- village, Way Htoo village tract[3], Daw Hpah Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District. They [the SAC] dropped three bombs on the village by using a drone [which dropped the bombs one by one]. Local villagers believe that the SAC soldiers [responsible for this drone strike] are based in an army camp near a Kyewl Pin bridge on Sittang River which is located next to Kyewl Yar Pyin village, Way Htoo village tract.
One of the bombs landed and exploded near a villager’s house in A--- village. The shrapnel from the bomb hit and damaged two villagers’ houses, a coconut tree and some other trees. The roof, floor, and ladder of those houses were damaged. The bomb explosion also injured a cow. These two houses are owned by a villager named U[4] C--- and his niece.
The shrapnel also hit U C--- when he was working to repair and make wooden chairs and tables under his [stilted] house. He sustained injuries on his neck, right hand and left thigh. After the incident, he was sent to Swar Hospital [which is run by the SAC] in Swar Town, Yay Tar Say Township, Bago Division. He died in the hospital at 7 pm [later that day, on December 11th 2024] as his injuries were serious. U C--- was Bamar[5] ethnic and he was also a retired soldier from the Burma Army. After he died, his family members could no longer take his pension from the SAC, as reported by his son [to KHRG].
The other two bombs landed and exploded outside the village, a bit far from villagers’ houses. Therefore, no houses were damaged and no villager was injured or killed by these two bombs’ explosions.
Due to the SAC drone attack, villagers’ houses were damaged, one cow was injured and one villager was killed. It caused fear and panic among local villagers in the village. Local villagers do not know why the SAC conducted the drone attack in their village. [Villagers believe that it might be due to] the local People’s Defence Force (PDF)[6] [who] is operating in the area [traveling from village to village].
The SAC knew that the retired solider, U C---, was killed by the drone attack. [According to villagers: SAC authorities went to the SAC-administered hospital where patient information is recorded and the family stopped receiving the pension]. However, the SAC did not take any responsibility or accountability for this incident. The SAC neither provided compensation nor apologised to U C---’s family members.
Second incident: December 12th 2024
On December 12th 2024, an unknown SAC military unit carried out a drone attack on B--- village, Way Htoo village tract, Daw Hpah Hkoh Township. They dropped one big bomb [which is around 10 to 12 viss[7] in weight] and one small bomb on the village by using a drone [which dropped the bombs one by one]. Due to this drone attack, two villager’s houses in the village were damaged. [The villagers who own these houses were unharmed because they had already fled at an earlier date from the village. The exact date they fled is unknown since the KHRG researcher did not talk to them. This information was provided by neighbours in the village.]
Further background reading on the situation on air strikes in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
- ကဘီယူၤဟဲလံ Aircraft coming! : Impacts of air strikes on local communities and villagers’ protection strategies in Southeast Burma since the 2021 coup. November 2024.
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: An SAC drone strike injured two villagers, including one teenage boy, and resulted in displacement in Moo Township, July 2024”, December 2024.
- “Dooplaya District Situation Update: SAC shelling, militarisation and air strikes causing casualties, displacement, and education, healthcare and livelihood challenges in Kaw T’Ree Township (January to August 2024)”, December 2024.
- “Doo Tha Htoo District Incident Report: SAC air strikes injured two villagers and damaged monasteries and farms in Hpa-an Township, April 2024”, December 2024.
These photos were taken in December 2024 in A--- village, Way Htoo village tract, Daw Hpah Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District. On December 11th 2024, the SAC dropped three bombs on the village by using a drone, which killed a villager named U C---, injured a cow, and damaged two houses and some trees. The top left photo shows a big hole in front of U C---’s niece’s house, caused by one of the bomb’s explosions. The top right photo shows that the roof of U C---’s niece’s house was damaged by the shrapnel of the bomb. The two photos on the bottom row show some trees, owned by local villagers, damaged by the shrapnel of the bomb. [Photos: KHRG]
These photos were taken in December 2024 in B--- village, Way Htoo village tract, Daw Hpah Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District. These photos show two villagers’ houses that were damaged by the SAC drone attack on December 12th 2024. [Photos: KHRG]
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in January 2025. It was provided by a community member in Taw Oo 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] 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 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.
[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] ‘U’ is a Burmese title used for elder men, used before their name.
[5] The majority ethnic group in Myanmar, also known as ethnic Burmese or Burman.
[6] 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.
[7] A viss is a unit of weight equivalent to 1.6 kg or 3.52 lbs.
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