This Situation Update describes events occurring in Kaw T’Ree (Kawkareik)Township, Dooplaya District, from April to June 2025. During this period, fighting happened between the State Administration Council (SAC) and armed resistance groups. During fighting, the SAC carried out air strikes and shelled civilian areas, injuring and killing villagers and damaging villagers’ schools, houses, churches, and monasteries. On April 15th 2025, the SAC conducted shelling in Noh Poe village tract, injuring two villagers. On May 25th, SAC mortar shelling injured two siblings in Thay Baw Boh village tract. Then, on May 28th, SAC air strikes killed a woman in Thay Baw Boh village tract, as she remained in the village to take care of his husband, who had a physical disability. On May 29th 2025, SAC aircraft dropped bombs in school compound and injured three students and one villager. In late May 2025, combined armed resistance forces continued their attacks and, on June 3rd 2025, captured the SAC’s Thay Baw Boe army camp. In response, the SAC shelled areas near the camp. Villagers were afraid to live in their villages, leading many to abandon their houses, belongings, and farmlands. Travel restrictions increased due to fighting and road closures, raising livelihood difficulties for villagers and increasing the price of goods. While schools typically begin the academic year in June 2025, many remained closed due to the ongoing fighting or after being damaged by attacks in the past. Others were not able to open regularly or lacked materials. As a result, students had to study in villagers’ houses..[1]

 

 

Introduction

This is a Situation Update report from Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, covering events between April 1st and June 30th 2025. This situation update is about human rights violations. In this area, I [a KHRG researcher] witnessed that villagers faced unstable [access to] education, transportation, livelihoods, and living standards due to conflict in the country.

Fighting and SAC air strikes and shelling in Kaw T’Ree Township

In 2021, the State Administration Counsil (SAC)[2] seized power and established a dictatorship. Following that, armed conflict occurred all over the country. Now, it is 2025, yet conflict is ongoing in Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, in Karen National Union (KNU)[3]-controlled areas, in Southeast Burma. The conflict happened between the SAC and combined armed resistance groups, including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[4], the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO)[5], and People’s Defense Force (PDF)[6], all of which [cooperate] under the KNU’s system.

Fighting escalated during April 1st until June 30th 2025 in Kaw T’Ree Township as armed resistance groups attacked and captured an SAC army camp located in Thay Baw Boh area [on June 3rd 2025], causing difficulties for villagers. [During the fighting,] the SAC conducted shelling and used aircraft to drop bombs into villages, where there was no conflict.

  • April 15th 2025: SAC shelling in Noh Poe village tract

On April 15th 2025, shelling happened at Aa--- village, Noh Poe village tract[7], Kaw T’Ree Township, injuring two villagers.[8] 41-year-old Naw[9] A--- was injured on her abdomen, and local village leaders sent her to Ac--- clinic, run by the KNLA/PDF. Later, she was referred to Ab--- clinic [located in Thailand] to receive further treatment. In addition, a 21-year-old named Saw[10] B--- also sustained injuries on his right leg. He received treatment at Ac--- clinic, run by the KNLA/PDF as well. Moreover, two houses were damaged.

  • May 25th and 28th 2025: SAC shelling and air strikes in Thay Baw Boh village tract

[The SAC shelled and carried out air strikes on villages in Thay Baw Boh village tract after combined resistance forces attacked their An--- army camp in late May 2025.] Shelling and air strikes happened on May 25th 2025 at Ad--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township. At first, an SAC fighter jet dropped approximately five bombs into Ad--- village, however, there were no casualties. [Later] on the same day, SAC soldiers fired [an unknown number of] mortar shells into Ad--- village and injured two siblings named Saw C--- and Naw D---. Villagers believed that the mortars were fired from SAC’s Ghaw Lay army camp, the only army camp located nearby.

Then, on May 28th 2025, an air strike happened in Ae--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract, killing a 70-year-old woman named Daw[11] E---. When the air strike happened, she was feeding her pigs. She was advised [by local KNU leaders] to displace elsewhere prior to the incident. However, she did not displace in advance because she had to take care of her husband, who was paralysed. Due to the air strike, villagers’ belongings and more than five houses were damaged.

  • May 29th 2025: SAC air strikes in Thay Baw Boh village tract

After that, on May 29th, air strikes happened in Ad--- village and Af--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract. On May 29th 2025, between 6:45 pm and 7 pm, an SAC fighter jet came and dropped multiple bombs, including at least two 250-pound bombs, despite there being no fighting in the village.[12] Bombs landed inside a school’s compound in Ad--- village, and one remained unexploded. In addition, one bomb landed in front of a girls’ dormitory, located inside the compound of Af--- school (run by the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[13]). One of the 250-pound bombs landed inside a monastery’s compound, and another 250-pound bomb landed near a shop house in Af--- village.

 Three students from Af--- school and a villager from Af--- village sustained injuries. The four casualties include a 14-year-old boy named Saw F---, a 15-year-old named Saw G---, a 16-year-old named Saw H---, and a 28-year-old named Saw I---. Soldiers from the combined forces of the KNLA and PDF sent the four casualties to Ag--- clinic, run by the KNLA. One of the villagers sustained severe injuries. Thus, they were referred to Ah--- hospital [which is located in Thailand]. There were no casualties in Ad--- village as a result of the air strikes.

Villagers from Af--- village and Ad--- village dared not to live in their village following the air strike incident. Villagers fled to the forest and to farm huts.

Displacement in Kaw T’Ree Township

The researcher visited areas where air strikes had taken place in Ad--- village and Af--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract. However, he did not find any villagers remaining in Ad--- village, and he encountered with very few villagers in Af--- village. When the researcher went to Af--- village to document human rights issues, the researcher discovered that villagers did not dare to live in their villages. They were scared that the SAC’s aircraft would drop bombs and conduct shelling indiscriminately into their villages. These villages experienced either air strikes or shelling during 2022 and 2025. They witnessed damage, destruction, and injuries [from shelling and air strikes in their villages].

Villagers from nine village tracts were afraid to live in their villages. [In addition to the villages abovementioned,] displaced villages are :

  • Ai--- village, of Chu K’Lee village tract;
  • Aj--- village, Ak--- village, Al--- village, Am--- village, of Pa Lu village tract;
  • An--- village, Ag--- village, Ao--- village, Ap--- (also known as Ae---) village, Aq--- village, and Ar--- new village [,also known as] Bo--- village, of Thay Baw Boh village tract;
  • As-- village, At--- village, and Au--- village, of Noh Poe village tract;
  • Av--- village, Aw--- village, Ax--- village, and Ay--- village, of Maw Hkee village tract;
  • Az--- village and Ba--- village, of Aww Hpa village tract;
  • Bb--- village, Bc--- village, Bd--- village, Be--- village, and Bf--- village of Maw Ma village tract;
  • Bg--- village, Bh--- village, Bi--- village, Bj--- village, and Bk--- (Bp---) village, of Kaw Nweh village tract; and
  • Bl--- village, Bm--- village, and Bn--- village, of Ghoh Ther Si Ther Pler village tract.

Villagers fled to places where they felt safer and free from danger. Some fled to displacement areas, to Bq--- [a forest area], and to Bx--- river area. Displacement areas in Taw Naw Muh Htaw [the area to the east of the Taw Naw mountain range] include [five] displacement sites: site #1 (Cb---), displacement site #3 (An---), displacement site #4 (Cc---), and displacement site #5 (Cd--- [and] Ce---).

Travelling and transportation challenges in the township:

Due to the ongoing conflict in the country, there were difficulties to travel [due to fighting] on a road [which runs from Ghaw Lay Myaing to Ra Ma Tee/Myawaddy towns] in Taw Naw Mu Htaw area, Dooplaya District.

Between late April and June 2025, there were not many passengers travelling on the road because the fighting happened very close to the road. Villagers were informed [in April 2025] by local authorities that KNLA soldiers planned to clear out Bler Doh [SAC army camp], Thay Baw Boh [SAC army camp], and Ao Kray Hta [army camp]. Thus, villagers felt scared and displaced themselves in advance.

From 2023 until now [June 2025], the Asian Highway[14] has been restricted for travel [due to ongoing fighting]. [Instead,] villagers used mountain paths for travelling because they had no alternative roads left to use. Villagers from Ghoh Ther Si village tract, Maw Ma village tract, Aoo Hpa village tract, and Kya K’Wa village tract travel to sell things only through Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] road, because Kaw T’Ree’s road and Kruh Tuh’s road were completely closed. From April to June, we [villagers] know that the road got harder [more difficult to travel on].

Livelihood challenges in Kaw T’Ree Township:

Between April and June 2025, [due to the ongoing conflict] villagers from Kaw T’Ree Township did not dare to go and work in their plantation fields, farmlands, and hill farms anymore. On June 3rd 2025, an SAC army camp in Thay Baw Boh was captured by KNDO Battalion #8, KNLA Battalion #27 and #28, and PDF collaborating (including the Veno column, Cobra column[15], Black Panther column, and Federal Wings [an armed resistance group that builds improvisational drones]).

Thus, villagers in Thay Baw Boh village tract and village tracts near Thay Baw Boh, such as Maw Hkee village tract, Kaw Nweh village tract, Maw Ma village tract, Ghoh Ther Si village tract, Aww Hpa village tract, and Noh Poe village tracts, did not dare to go and work in their plantation fields, farmlands, and hill farms. Many fields became overgrown. Some villagers left their plantations unharvested. In Kaw T’Ree Township, villagers often harvested durian, betel nuts, betel nut leaves, pineapple, and mangosteen during April, May, and June. However, in 2025, due to the constant fighting, villagers were unable to harvest plantations with these plants. 

Education challenges in Kaw T’Ree Township 

During the last week of May 2025, combined armed resistance groups, including the KNLA, KNDO, and the PDF, began attacking the SAC’s Thay Baw Boh army camp in the Taw Naw Mu Htaw area, Kaw T’Ree Township, escalating the ongoing conflict. While the attack was ongoing, the SAC used aircraft and dropped bombs into Af--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract. [As discussed above,] the bomb explosions injured three students and a villager, raising villagers’ concerns regarding students going to school.

Following the attack, villagers feared reopening schools. Schools did not open and close on time [following a regular schedule] in Maw Hkee village tract, Thay Baw Boh village tract, Pa Lu village tract, and Chu K’Lee village tract, due to the ongoing conflict. 

[In Burma,] schools typically reopen in June. However, in 2025, the KHRG researcher witnessed that due to the conflict, schools were still closed in June. Some schools such as [KECD] middle schools in Au--- village and Aa--- village, [and another school in As--- village], Noh Poe village tract; a [KECD] middle school from Ca--- village, P’Lu village tract; and a [KECD] primary school from Ai--- village, Ao Kray Hta village tract, were damaged/destroyed by the air strikes, and shelling from previous years. Thus, students could not study in the school. In some schools, unexploded UXOs remained, preventing students from studying in the school compound. Therefore, students studied in villagers’ houses.

Parents worried for [the further education of] their children. As of June 2025, the intensification of conflict had continued, as not all SAC soldiers from Thay Baw Boh army camp had been captured by resistance armed forces, so students and children continued to study away from schools. This became an obstacle for students to access education. Similarly, it increased the difficulties villagers faced in their livelihoods. In the education sector, the KECD education system’s printed textbooks were also not sufficient for all the schools.

We don’t know when the conflict in Karen State will end. As long as fighting exists, the conflict will [be forced to] coexist with the Karen community.

 

                    

 

 

Further background reading on the situation on air strikes in Dooplaya District in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:

 
Tue, 23 Dec 2025

Footnotes: 

[1] The present document is based on information received in June and July 2025. 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. This document combines several received reports with the following KHRG internal log numbers: #25-248-D2, #25-248-D3, #25-248-I1, #25-248-I2, and #25-282-D1.

[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 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. The military junta changed its name in July 31st 2025 to State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC).

[3] 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 (NCA) in 2015, following the 2021 coup staged by Burma Army leaders, the KNU officially stated that the NCA has become void.

[4] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.

[5] The Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) was formed in 1947 by the Karen National Union and is the precursor to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Today the KNDO refers to a militia force of local volunteers trained and equipped by the KNLA and incorporated into its battalion and command structure; its members wear uniforms and typically commit to two-year terms of service.

[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 village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large village.

[9] ‘Naw’ is a S’gaw Karen female honorific title used before a person’s name.

[10] Saw is a S’gaw Karen male honorific title used before a person’s name.

[11] ‘Daw’ is a Burmese female honorific title used before a person’s name.

[13] The Karen Education and Culture Department is the education department of the Karen National Union. Its main goals are to provide mother tongue education services to rural Karen populations in Southeast Myanmar, as well as to preserve the Karen language, culture and history. Despite being an important education provider in the region, it is not officially recognised by the Myanmar government.

[14] The Asian Highway Network is a United Nations Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific-supported project that aims to link 32 countries in Asia across 141,000 kilometres of roadway. In Burma/Myanmar the project has involved land confiscation and forced labour. For more information about the Asian Highway Network, see “Beautiful Words, Ugly Actions:The Asian Highway in Karen State, Burma”, KHRG, August 2016; “The Asia Highway: Planned Eindu to Kawkareik Town road construction threatens villagers’ livelihoods,” KHRG, March 2015.

[15] The Cobra Column is one of eight armed resistance forces that have emerged since March 2022 under the joint command of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the People’s Defence Force (PDF). The Cobra Column operates largely under KNLA Company #1, Battalion #27 of KNLA's Brigade #6.

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