Type of Incident

Shelling and air strikes by the State Administration Council (SAC)[2] caused villagers’ casualties

Date of Incident(s)

December 30th and 31st 2024

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Aa--- village, K’Ter Tee village tract[3], Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District. 

Victim Information

Name

Saw[4] A---

Saw B---

Age

21 years old

43 years old

Gender

Man

Man

Ethnicity

Karen

Karen

Marital Status  

Single

Married

Occupation

Farmer

Farmer

Religion

Christian

Christian

Position

Villager

Villager

Village

Aa--- village, K’Ter Tee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District. 

Aa--- village, K’Ter Tee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District. 

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

[SAC’s] K’Ter Tee army camp, K’Ter Tee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District.

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

[Unknown SAC’s] Air base

Min Aung Hlaing[5] [Htun Aung serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Burma (SAC) Air Force]

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

When I [KHRG researcher] heard the sound of air strikes and shelling, I [KHRG field researcher] was worried about [possible] villagers’ causalities. Then, I [KHRG field researcher] went to Ab--- clinic, in K’Ter Tee village tract, and met with an injured villager named Saw B--- from Aa--- village. I [KHRG field researcher] conducted an interview with Saw B--- about his injury. When I [KHRG field researcher] asked [if there were] any other causalities, he replied that a villager from Aa--- village, named Saw A---, had also been killed on a previous day [December 30th 2024].

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

Saw B--- was in Aa--- village during the incident, and he is the [injured] victim. [The KHRG researcher also verified this information with] Saw C---, [a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[6] soldier] who was serving as a security guard nearby Aa--- village, and witnessed [heard] the SAC, based in K’Ter Tee camp, fire six 60 mm mortar rounds into Aa--- village, which killed Saw A---. [Saw C--- heard the firing of mortar shells coming from the direction of the SAC army camp.] [The KHRG researcher also talked to the Ab--- village tract authority, Thara[7] D---.]

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On December 30th 2024, at 8 pm, SAC soldiers, based in K’Ter Tee army camp, fired six 60 mm mortar shells into Aa--- village, K’Ter Tee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District, and killed a villager named Saw A--- (21 years old) from Aa--- village when he was returning [from a displacement site] to his house in the village to check the house supplies and feed the livestock. After the incident, KNLA soldiers [who were serving as security guards near the village] went to the incident place to check. They [KNLA soldiers] found Saw A---’s dead body [in Aa--- village] and informed the village leaders and pastor [in the displacement site]. Then, the pastor and village leaders organised the funeral ceremony. On January 3rd 2025, the pastor and displaced villagers organised a memorial service for Saw A--- at the displacement site.

The villagers from Aa--- village have been displaced from their village since December 1st 2024 due to armed conflict [between the SAC and armed resistance groups]. Saw A---’s father had already passed away. Saw A---’s mother fled to Ac--- village, Weh Pya village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District, while his siblings fled to another place. Therefore, none of his family members were present during his memorial service. Saw A---’s mother experienced shock and had to be sent to the [SAC-administered] Hpa-an hospital after hearing of her son’s passing. People informed Thara D--- [the Ab--- village tract authority] regarding his [Saw A---’s] mother’s situation.   

On December 31st 2024, at 8 am, the SAC conducted air strikes [with three aircraft] onto Aa--- village, K’Ter Tee village tract, and injured a villager named Saw B--- when he was returning [from the same displacement site as Saw A---] to the village to check his house. [Saw B--- was standing next to his stilted house when the air strike occurred. The house was also damaged.] After he was injured, KNLA soldiers, who were serving as security [guards] nearby, sent him to Ab--- clinic [which is administered by the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)[8]], K’Ter Tee village tract. Saw B--- received treatment from the clinic free of cost.

Saw B--- is 43 years old and has six children. His family members fled to Ac---’s cave [near Ac--- village], Lay Poe Hta village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District. Saw B--- explained to KHRG: “I want to say, if the conflict ends, I don’t know what to do [for work] when I return to [my] village. We have to work for the coming year. I cannot find it [support] anywhere. I need food, clothes, and cooking materials because my entire house was destroyed [by the SAC air strike]”.

[According to the KHRG researcher,] the SAC has deliberately conducted shelling and air strikes into villages, plantations farms and displacement sites. The SAC did not attack or target their enemies. It was a violation of the Geneva Conventions and human rights.

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

The [injured] victim, Saw B---,  gave permission to use this information. Saw A---’s brother also gave permission to publish this information.