SAC air strikes caused damages in Bu Tho and Dwe Lo Townships

[Recurrently in March and April 2024,] the KNLA [Karen National Liberation Army[2]] attacked with drones the SAC [State Administration Council[3]] army camps of Battalions [Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs)[4]] #340, #341, #434 and the strategic hilltop base [all based close to Hpapun Town, Mu Traw District]. Following the drone attacks, the SAC [recurrently] conducted air strikes into the villages located close to their army camps. Within one day, the SAC would conduct between 10 to 40 air strikes [into nearby villages]. The [affected] villages located near the [SAC] army camps include Ac---, Ad---, Ae---, Af---, Ab---, and Ag--- villages, in Meh Klaw village tract[5], Bu Tho Township, Mu Traw District, and Ah---, Ai---, and Aj--- villages, in Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District, as well as Section #1 and Section #2 in Hpapun Town, Mu Traw District.  

[During March 2024,] the SAC had often conducted air strikes in the Hpapun Town area, so the villagers from the villages located close to Hpapun Town had fled to K’Mah Moh Town [in Doo Tha Htoo District], Hkaw Taw Town [in Hpa-an District], and Hpa-An Town [in Doo Tha Htoo District]. The SAC air strikes [in March 2024] caused casualties among villagers, including a monk, as well as damage to houses.[6]

Whenever the SAC soldiers were attacked, nearby or far from the villages [in the Hpapun Town area], the SAC conducted air strikes on the villages. The SAC attacked and threatened civilians rather than their enemies [resistance armed groups].

• April 1st 2024: Air strikes in Dwe Lo Township

On April 1st 2024, at 1:30 am, an SAC aircraft dropped bombs into Aa--- village, Htee Th'Bluh Hta village tract, Dwe Lo Township [also located near Hpapun area. In total, 28 bombs were dropped [in the area. This was counted by a local community member who heard the sound of 28 explosions].

Among these 28 bombs, five bombs landed on the monastery compound in Aa--- village and damaged the monastery wall, the kitchen wall, and the dining room roof. Furthermore, the bombs explosions damaged nearby villagers’ houses, including the house wall of a villager named Saw[7] A--- and the water tank and toilet of a villager named Saw B---. Three bombs landed on Saw C---’s garden, which is next to the house of Saw D--- and the house of Saw E---. The explosions damaged the roof and wall of Saw D---’s house. Saw E---’s house was destroyed by the explosion. Three bombs landed beside the house of Saw F--- [but did not damage the house]. Three bombs landed behind Saw G---’s house and damaged his house roof, a pot, and killed one chicken. The rest of the bombs landed on farms and plantations in Aa--- village area.

Before the air strikes, an [SAC] aircraft conducted reconnaissance [over Hpapun Town area] for two days, on March 30th and 31st 2024. When they [SAC aircraft] bombed Aa--- village, no villagers were injured [as they had already displaced]. Aa--- villagers were afraid to stay in the village and fled to their huts in farms, plantations and forests [where they continue to be displaced as of February 2025].

• April 8th and 14th 2024: Air strikes in Bu Tho Township

On April 8th 2024, at 7:30 am, an SAC aircraft dropped bombs into Ab--- village, Meh Klaw village tract, Bu Tho Township. When the SAC aircraft dropped bombs into Ab--- village, the house roof of a villager named U[8] H--- was damaged. [In addition,] the house of a villager named U I--- was destroyed, and his coconut trees, plantations, and furniture were damaged.

On April 14th 2024, at 10 am, an SAC aircraft dropped bombs [again] into Ab--- village, Meh Klaw village tract. The bombs landed next to Saw I---’s house and damaged the roof and wall of the house. One [bomb] landed behind J---’s house and remained unexploded. Many [bombs] landed beside the roads and the village [Ab--- village].

Due to the SAC air strikes, villagers [from villages located close to Hpapun Town] fled from their villages and were unable to continue their livelihood activities, so they worry about their food [security] in the future [as of February 2025]. 

Further background reading on the human rights situation in Mu Traw District in Southeast Burma can be found in the following KHRG reports:

• “Mu Traw District Incident Report: SAC arbitrary arrest, use of villagers as forced navigators and human shields, mistreatment, and looting in Bu Tho Township (April 2024)”, January 2025.
• “Photo Set: Villagers’ displacement in Southeast Burma, and reported challenges, from January to October 2024”, December 2024.
• ကဘီယူၤဟဲလံ Aircraft coming! : Impacts of air strikes on local communities and villagers’ protection strategies in Southeast Burma since the 2021 coup, November 2024.
• “Mu Traw District Incident Report: One teenager was killed and another was severely injured by a UXO explosion, in Lu Thaw Township (July 2024)”, September 2024.