On November 26th 2022 at around 6:30 am, local People’s Defence Force (PDF)[2] attacked a State Administration Council (SAC)[3] frontline army camp called Than Moe Taung army camp, located in Than Moe Taung village, Than Moe Taung village tract, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District. SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[4] #605 is based in this army camp. Some villagers’ houses are located close to this army camp. [One villager was injured by the gunfire].

At around 9:00 am, about two hours after the fighting [on the same day], two SAC fighter jets from Southern Command Headquarters flew to Than Moe Taung village in order to support LIB #605 as reinforcements. They [SAC fighter jets] dropped bombs [in the fighting area] and used machine guns, firing on the ground. Some of the bombs landed on villagers’ houses [and plantations]. Some of the bombs that landed in the village did not explode. Due to the air strikes, more than 30 houses in Than Moe Taung village were damaged. Three villagers were injured and one villager died as a result of the air strikes.

Naw[5] Marry Mya, a female villager of about 50 years of age from Than Moe Taung village, was hit below her left breast [by a bullet shot by an aircraft’s machine gun] during the air strikes. The bullet went through her back. She died on the spot. She has three children. Naw Marry Mya’s sister, a 60-year-old female villager named Naw A---, also sustained a graze gunshot wound to her head, which she survived. She was sent to Toungoo Hospital [in Toungoo Town, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District] for medical treatment. Naw A--- is single.

One of the bombs [from a fighter jet] exploded in and damaged the kitchen of Saw[6] B---, a 60-year-old villager and father of three. The bomb shrapnel hit his left leg and his chest. He was sent to Toungoo Hospital to receive medical treatment, where his left leg was amputated.

Saw C---, a 60-year-old male villager, suffered a graze gunshot wound to his left cheek [fired during the clash between the PDF and SAC]. He has a daughter. Saw D---, another male villager about 30 years old, also sustained a graze gunshot wound to his head [shot by a fighter jet during the air strike]. He has four children. Both victims were sent to a clinic in Than Moe Taung village to receive medical treatment. This clinic is run by nuns from a local Roman Catholic Church.

After the air strikes [on November 26th 2022], SAC troops in army camps located near Leik Tho Town, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, namely Than Moe Taung army camp, Z’Let army camp, A’lel Chaung A’tet Ywar army camp, located in Than Moe Taung village, Than Moe Taung village tract, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, and Mine Lon Aout Ywar army camp, located in Mine Lon village tract, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, indiscriminately fired mortar shells in the area near Than Moe Taung village. LIB #603 is based in Z’Let army camp. SAC troops [from Z’Let army camp, A’lel Chaung A’tet Ywar army camp and Mine Lon Aout Ywar army camp] are located relatively far from the fighting place. They fired mortar shells in order to support the troops in Than Moe Taung army camp. Due to the indiscriminate shelling, local villagers in the area fled their villages for their security. Local villagers fled to their relatives’ houses in other villages [KHRG was unable to find out which villages exactly] in order to seek refuge.

As villagers fled for their lives, they could not bury Naw Marry Mya [who passed away in the air strike] and they left her body in Than Moe Taung village. On November 27th 2022, a few villagers and some relatives [of Naw Marry Mya] were able to bury her body in a cemetery [in an unknown location]. As of November 30th 2022, displaced villagers from Than Moe Taung village and other villages were not able to return home.

After the fighting [on November 26th 2022], SAC troops patrolled in Than Moe Taung village and fired guns in the air. They also arrested male villagers that they came across for questioning and interrogating [on whether they have connections with the PDF]. Due to these actions, local villagers remain afraid to return to their homes.

Further background reading on the security and human rights situation in Taw Oo District in Southeast Burma can be found in the following KHRG reports:

• “Taw Oo District Situation Update: Deliberate shooting of two villagers, military activity, including live-fire exercises into villages, fighting, shelling and displacement in Daw Hpa Hkoh and Htaw Ta Htoo townships, February to October 2022”, January 2023.
• “Taw Oo District Incident Report: A villager died after he was shot by SAC troops in Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, December 2022”, January 2023.
• “Taw Oo District Short Update: Skirmishes, injuries due to SAC shelling and gunfire, threats against villagers and restriction of freedom of movement in Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, December 2022”, January 2023.
• “Taw Oo District Situation Update: Fighting, displacement, killing, and villagers’ livelihoods in Htaw Ta Htoo Township, April to July 2022”, December 2022.