Type of Incident

[Landmine explosion] Injuries and death from stepping on a landmine

Date of Incident(s)

July 13th 2023

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

N--- village, Ka Ywe village tract[2], Kyeh Htoh Township, Doo Tha Htoo District

Victim Information

Name

Maung[3] H---

Age

13 years old

Gender

Man

Ethnicity

Bamar[4]

Marital Status   

-

Occupation

Cowboy

Religion

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Village

N--- village, Ka Ywe village tract, Kyeh Htoh Township, Doo Tha Htoo District 

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Pyu Saw Htee[5] group, which is under Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[6] #207 (under the command of Light Infantry Division (LID)[7]  #44)

This Pyu Saw Htee group  is based in N--- village.

LIB #207 army camp is in Thein Za Yat Town, Kyeh Htoh Township.

 Pe Thi 

(Pyu Saw Htee group leader)

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

[A KHRG researcher] learned about the incident from the ‘Department of Organising and Information’ in Kyeh Htoh Township [under the Karen National Union (KNU)[8]]. He then conducted more research about this case by getting first-hand information from G---, a person close to the victim [relationship censored for security].

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

G--- is a person close to the victim [relationship censored for security], Maung H---, and he provided the information to KHRG. He stated that the information he testified was true as he was involved in organising the funeral service for Maung H--- from the beginning to the end. The KHRG researcher also had an informal conversation with another person close to the victim [relationship censored for security] in January 2024 about the landmine incident.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

In the afternoon of July 13th 2023, a landmine exploded near Thein Za Yat Town, Kyeh Htoh Township. Maung H---, who is the son of U W---, from N--- village, Ka Ywe village tract, Kyeh Htoh Township, had left his house at about 2:50 pm that day to go look after the cattle. He stepped on the landmine on his way, and was killed by the explosion.

The victim, Maung H---, was 13 years old. His family has been struggling for their livelihood, working as daily workers and [taking on] any jobs they are offered by other villagers. Therefore, Maung H--- had been working as a cowboy [for a local cow owner] so that his salary could be added in support of his family’s income. The morning before the incident, Maung H--- left his house to look after the [grazing] cows. He returned to his house in the afternoon for lunch and then went back to [look after] the cows by bicycle. On the way, he stepped on a landmine. [Back in N--- village,] a few moments after he left his house, villagers heard the sound of the explosion, but they did not know that it was a landmine explosion [and that it killed Maung H---]. Villagers from N--- village could not identify what type of ammunition [caused the] explosion [based on the sound], because both the State Administration Council (SAC)[9] Artillery Unit #310 and SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #207 bases are in Thay Za Ya Town, Kyeh Htoh Township, close to their village, and the SAC soldiers often shell mortars [around their army camps]. SAC soldiers have been conducting shelling after losing soldiers on the front line, when they win a fight on the front line, or even when they are drunk. Villagers often hear explosions, so they did not realise that this explosion was from a landmine.

The evening [of the incident], Maung H--- did not return home, so his family looked for him, but they could not find him anywhere in the village. Villagers continued looking for him, and found out the next morning that he died from wounds caused by the landmine explosion, right beside his bicycle, at a place near N--- village.

The Pyu Saw Htee armed group is a local militia led by [the group leader named] Pe Thi, under the command of SAC LIB #207 (which is under SAC Light Infantry Division (LID) #44). This Pyu Saw Htee group is based in N--- village, and its members are hard to identify, as they dress and behave like civilians. They nonetheless often carry guns, work as informants for the SAC, and sometimes even participate in frontline fighting. The Pyu Saw Htee had planted landmines near the village, claiming to do this for the village’s security. No local resistance armed group operates around the place of the incident, so villagers assume that this landmine had been planted by the Pyu Saw Htee. These Pyu Saw Htee soldiers live in the village holding guns, use drugs, and randomly fire their arms. The group is based, lives, and operates in the village and its surrounding area.

The family of Maung H--- has been facing livelihood difficulties and their [income] situation has worsened since he died from stepping on the landmine, but the SAC did not take any responsibility toward the family [no compensation was offered]. Due to the high security risks, neither family members nor villagers felt safe reporting the case to the SAC in the army camps, or to the Pyu Saw Htee group based in the village. The family and the villagers had to hold the funeral quietly [as opposed to the traditional noisy ceremony] in fear and did not even feel safe to take pictures of the victim’s corpse because they [knew that] Pyu Saw Htee members [would be] present at the funeral. A person close to the victim [relationship censored for security] expressed how sad she felt about losing him. [She expressed] that she did not want this kind of incident happening in the community again.  

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

The interviewees gave [KHRG] permission to use this information for publication.