Type of Incident

Shelling [by the SAC] causing death and injury

Date of Incident(s)

July 1st 2024

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

A--- village, Mone village tract[2], Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

Victims Information

Name

U[3] C---

Daw[4] D---

Ma[5] E---

Ma G---

Maung[6] I---

Age

40 years old

35 years old

16 years old

8 years old

2 years old

Gender

Man

Woman

Girl

Girl

Boy

Ethnicity

Bamar[7]

Bamar

Bamar

Bamar

Bamar

Marital Status  

Married

Married

-

-

-

Occupation

Daily worker

Daily worker

Daily worker

-

-

Religion

Buddhist

Buddhist

-

-

-

Position

Unknown

Unknown

-

-

-

Village

A--- village, Mone village tract.

A--- village, Mone village tract.

A--- village, Mone village tract.

A--- village, Mone village tract.

A--- village, Mone village tract.

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

State Administration Council (SAC)[8] soldiers

Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs)[9] #590 and #599

Tha Sei village, Taung Laing village tract, Moo (Kyauk Kyi) Township.

Unknown

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

After the incident occurred, a local authority named P’Doh[10] K---, from L--- village, Kwee Duh Hkaw village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District, told me [the KHRG researcher] about the mortar shelling incident that hit villagers. P’Doh K--- asked local [Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[11]] soldiers to accompany me [the researcher, on the way to the incident place as a security precaution]. Then, I [the KHRG researcher] went [alone] to get the photos, conducted the interviews [with a witness named U M--- and a family member of the victims named Ma H---,] and documented the information.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

A villager from A--- village [named U M---] provided this information to me [the KHRG researcher]. He [U M---] was at his home [located nearby] when the incident occurred and witnessed it firsthand. He also helped the injured villagers by transporting them to the hospital. [Information was also provided by Ma H---, the sister of the victim named U C---, to another KHRG researcher.]

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On July 1st 2024, in the afternoon at around 2:30 pm, State Administration Council (SAC) soldiers from Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs) #590 and #599 (based in Tha Sei village, Taung Laing village tract, Moo Township) heard [were reportedly informed by people] that villagers in A--- village, Mone village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District, were celebrating thanksgiving at the monastery [near the village], so they [SAC] shelled two mortar rounds onto A--- village. [Local villagers believe that the shells were aimed at the monastery, where people were gathering.] One of the mortars landed in the village, but did not cause any injury.

The second mortar shell landed on the house of an A--- villager, named U C---. He [U C---] and his family were inside the house when the mortar shell impacted the house, so all of them were injured by the mortar shell explosion. U C--- died instantly after being injured by the mortar shell explosion. Daw D--- was seriously injured by the explosion [and died shortly after]. Their three children, named Ma E--- (16 years old), Ma G--- (8 years old), and Maung I--- (2 years old), were also injured by this mortar shell explosion. U C---’s sister, Ma H---, explained: “I was nearby when the mortar landed. […] I heard the sound, and I ran toward it [them]. My brother was already killed. My sister-in-law fell on the ground. […] It was while people were running from panic while I was asking for help. It was so delayed. My sister-in-law was killed, although she shouldn’t have died.”  

Ma E--- [the 16-year-old daughter] received treatment at N--- clinic [which is located in Taw Oo (Toungoo) District and is a self-funded clinic run by a doctor taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)[12]]. Ma G--- [the 8-year-old daughter] and Maung I--- [the 2-year-old son] received treatment in [SAC-administered] Taw Oo (Toungoo) Hospital. Ma G--- had not been discharged yet [as of the end of July 2024]. Maung I--- was discharged from the hospital on July 13th [2024] after he recovered. The healthcare workers requested medical follow-ups [with Maung I--- at the hospital], but the transportation was extremely difficult [due to long distances and travel restrictions to get to Taw Oo District, so the boy could not be taken for medical follow-ups.].

These three injured villagers did not receive any support from [humanitarian] organisations, instead, villagers and their relatives helped them pay for the medical treatment [cost]. Ma H--- [U C---’s sister, and aunt of the orphaned children] explained: “I was alone when they were all injured and I asked for help, but people were trying to run away [from the danger], so I had to accompany the injured people to the hospital [in Taw Oo] and asked the [other] family [members] to stay behind [in the village] to transfer money and we paid for the treatment of those who were injured with our own money”.

Due to the SAC shelling mortar rounds, villagers are cautious and they are no longer travelling [as before]. After the incident, they [villagers] prepared themselves by building huts in their plantations nearby the village [to stay there instead and avoid potential harm, as the SAC shelled into their village]. Some of the villagers remaining in the village dug bunkers, but the water was rising [flooding] as it was the rainy season [in July 2024]. Therefore, they prepared sandbags for protection and they live cautiously.

Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided.

The villagers who provided the information [including the victims’ family member] allowed KHRG to publish this information for the world to know and to pressure to the SAC [to stop attacking villagers].