This Incident Report describes a landmine incident that occurred in Kaw T’Ree (Kawkareik) Township, Dooplaya District. Since November 2023, villagers from Kyeikdon Town, Kaw T’Ree Township, have been displaced due to State Administration Council (SAC) Infantry Battalion (IB) #558 indiscriminate shelling into Kyeikdon Town. On December 7th 2023, a 21-year-old villager named Maung A--- took a road that leads to IB #558 army camp near the town, which SAC IB #558 soldiers had marked with a bamboo fence, forbidding villagers to use it. Maung A--- was going to Kyeikdon Town to check his home. Once in the town, he stepped on a landmine that was planted on that road, near villagers’ houses. His left leg was injured and his right leg had to be amputated at the hospital. Villagers and local leaders from Kyeikdon Town believe that the landmine was planted by soldiers from IB #558 because the area was only patrolled by these troops.[1]

 

 

Part 1 – Incident Details

Type of Incident

Landmine explosion

Date of Incident(s)

December 7th 2023

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Kyeikdon Town (Section 1), Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District.
Victim Information

Name

Maung[2] A---

Age

21 years old

Gender

Man

Ethnicity

Mon[3]

Marital Status  

Single

Occupation

Daily labourer   

Religion

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Village

Kyeikdon Town

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

Infantry Battalion (IB)[4] #558

Near Kyeikdon Town

Unknown

 

Part 2 - Information Quality

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

A KHRG researcher conducted an in-person interview with the victim’s mother in B--- village, Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District [, where the family fled to].

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The information was provided by the victim’s mother.

 

Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

Since November 2023, many villagers from Kyeikdon Town, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, have been displaced, as the State Administration Council (SAC)[5] Infantry Battalion (IB) #558, based near Kyeikdon Town, had been conducting indiscriminate shelling with artillery weapons into Kyeikdon Town. [Some fled to surrounding areas of the town, others to a site for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and others to their relatives’ places]. However, some villagers occasionally returned to the town to check on their livestock, such as chickens and pigs.

 

On December 7th 2023, Maung A---, a villager from Kyeikdon Town, returned to his town, from where he was displaced in a nearby area, to check his home with a friend. When they reached Kyeikdon Town, they took a path that SAC [IB #558] soldiers had marked [with a fence] forbidding villagers to use it. [While walking on the road,] Maung A--- stepped on a landmine which was planted on the road near villagers’ houses.

 

The road was blocked with a bamboo [fence] as a sign not to cross it. Local villagers had seen SAC soldiers [from IB #558] placing bamboo to block the road. The road is located inside the town and it leads to the SAC [IB #558] army camp based near the town. However, [villagers did not know the reason why the SAC blocked the road with bamboo, and] the SAC did not provide any alert to villagers regarding landmines planted [in the road] in advance.

 

Maung A---’s left leg was injured and his right leg had to be amputated at the hospital from foot to shin [because it was blown off by the landmine explosion]. Maung A--- was [first] taken to a clinic in B--- village, in Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, by local [Karen National Union (KNU)[6]] authorities and, the clinic [later] referred the patient to U--- Hospital, located in the Thai side of the border. [The family did not have to pay for the medical cost themselves, as they received humanitarian support.] [As of February 2024,] Maung A--- still has [follow-up] appointments at U--- Hospital because his [amputated leg’s] wound has not fully healed yet. An artificial leg will be provided to him for free once the wound is fully recovered, as explained by one staff from U--- Hospital to Maung A---’s mother. [The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will cover the cost of the prosthetic leg.]

Following the landmine incident, Maung A--- and his family members moved to B--- village, in Htaw Wah Law village tract, located at the border [with Thailand, from where they were displaced at the surrounding area of Kyeikdon Town].

Kyeikdon villagers and local leaders believe the landmine was planted by SAC IB #558 while the villagers were away from their homes because IB #558 was the only army [battalion] based in the camp near Kyeikdon Town. Moreover, it [IB #558] is the only army which patrolled the area.

 

Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details

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

The victim and his family gave permission to use this information.

 

 

 

 

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

 
Wed, 24 Apr 2024

Footnotes: 

[1] The present document is based on information received in February 2024. It was provided by a community member in Dooplaya 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] ‘Maung’ is a Burmese male honorific title used before a person’s name.

[3] The Mon people are believed to be some of the oldest inhabitants of Southeast Asia. Most live in the central Myanmar government demarcated areas of Mon State, located in the south of Burma/Myanmar and bordering Kayin State, Bago Region (formerly Pegu Division) and Tanintharyi Region (formerly Tenasserim Division). These areas overlap to an extent with KHRG’s research areas, which follow a locally defined system of demarcation.

[4] An Infantry Battalion (IB) comprises 500 soldiers. However, most Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers. Yet up to date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. They are primarily used for garrison duty but are sometimes used in offensive operations.

[5] 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 Burma/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.

[6] 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 in 2015, relations with the government remain tense.

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