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These photos were taken by a local villager on December 2nd 2023 at M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. On December 2nd 2023, at 5 pm, an SAC fighter jet dropped two bombs in M--- area, killing two villagers and injuring one, in their plantations. The photo on the top-left shows Saw A---, wearing a black shirt, who died due to the bomb. The photo on the top-right shows U C---, wearing a striped shirt, who was killed by shrapnel from the bomb. The photo on the bottom left shows the injured villager, Saw B---. [Photo: Local villager]
December 2023 and January 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- area
On December 2nd 2023, in the evening time at 5 pm, a State Administration Council (SAC)[2] fighter jet dropped two bombs into [the area near] M--- village, Noh Poe village tract[3], Kaw T’Ree Township, killing two villagers and injuring one villager. At 5 pm, Saw[4] A--- and Saw B--- were sitting face to face to have dinner at their hut in their plantation area, located on the western side of M--- area. Saw B--- explained: “When the bomb exploded, everything went black as I closed my eyes tight and when I opened my eyes, I saw that Saw A--- was already lying on the ground [as he died instantly from his injuries]. When I moved beside him to help him, I realised that I had difficulties to move my left hand as I was also injured on my shoulder by the shrapnel.”
The same bomb also killed U[5] C---, who was heading to [the communal] pasture field to tie his cows. U C--- was injured by shrapnel and died on the spot.
On December 2nd 2023, around 9:30 pm, SAC Strategic Operations Command (SOC)[6], based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, and Infantry Battalion (IB)[7] #275, based near the Asian Highway[8] near Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, shelled into M--- village, injuring two villagers named Naw[9] D--- and Saw E---. The two villagers were sent to O--- clinic, in L---Town [in Tak province], Thailand. Naw D--- was severely injured [exact injuries unknown], thus she was referred to L--- General Hospital. Following the incident, villagers did not dare to live in the village, thus, some villagers left their plantations and farms without harvesting and were displaced to Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps [in P--- village, in P’Loo village tract, and Q--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract].
In January 2024, two SAC Strategic Operations Commands (SOCs), based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, IB #275, based near Myawaddy Town, and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[10] #355, based near the Asian Highway (near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town), fired mortar shells almost every evening during the month of January into M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the surrounding areas. Some of the shells landed on M--- village, as well as on villagers’ farmland areas. Thus, farmers worked on their farmland in fear [of attacks]. [No casualties were recorded as villagers were displaced from the village.]
Impact on schools in M--- village
Schools located in M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, operating under the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[11],were forced to close due to the general risk of shelling from ongoing attacks on a middle school in M--- village. The academic year of KECD’s schools usually starts during the first week of July and ends in the last week of March. Parents, village authorities, and teachers were worried for students attending the 2023-2024 academic year, therefore the middle school closed in December 2023.
In addition, villagers did not dare to live in their village. Some villagers fled to P--- IDP camp, P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township [in December 2023]. Some [villagers] fled to Q--- IDP camp, Thay Baw Boh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township. [Some] villagers did not dare to return to their homes until March 2024.
March 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- village, K--- village and R--- village
Starting March 5th 2024, an SAC fighter jet conducted reconnaissance and dropped at least five bombs in a week [onto K--- village and R--- village, Noh Poe village tract]. A helicopter came [and conducted reconnaissance] at least three times in the same week, when fighting happened. A bomber also came almost every day [in the month of March] and dropped bombs. Therefore, villagers from Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were constantly living in fear [and some fled to the IDP camps mentioned above].
On March 7th 2024, Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[12]’s Cobra Column[13] soldiers; KNLA Company #1 and Company #2, under Battalion #28; and People’s Defence Force (PDF)[14] [soldiers] attacked [SAC] LIB #355 army camp [located near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town]. Following the attack, on the same day, [SAC] LIB #275 fired 120 mm shells indiscriminately into M--- village. One of the shells exploded inside M--- village and injured Naw F--- (58 years old) on her thigh and damaged her rice barn. She was sent to a hospital by KNLA soldiers from Battalion #28, Company #1. Other shells landed on the surrounding area of the village. Due to the frequent indiscriminate shelling, villagers [who had returned in March] did not dare to live in their village [anymore], so they all fled outside of their village.
Additionally, at 3:20 pm [on March 7th], the SAC conducted an air strike via helicopter on the fighting area [in SAC LIB #355 army camp]. Later, on the same day, at 9:30 pm, the SAC conducted air strikes with two fighter jets, so villagers were scared. Villagers from M---, Y---, Z---, and K--- villages, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were scared [to live in the villages].
On March 8th at 3:30 am, the SAC [exact Artillery Unit unknown] conducted air strikes four times into M--- village. They also conducted shelling every few days at different times of the day [until the end of March]. At 7:30 am, sounds of gunfire and shelling appeared. [No villager was injured as they had already left the village, prior to the incident.] Shelling did not happen every day but [SAC] LIBs #275, #357, #356, and Strategic Operations Command based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town fired shells every two to three days into M--- village and K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the villages’ surrounding areas, until March 31st 2024.
On March 20th 2024, at 5 pm, an SAC aircraft [fighter jet] dropped bombs into K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and killed a villager, Saw G--- and injured two women from K--- village, and damaged 5 houses, an elementary school inside a church compound, an animist temple, and one middle school.[15]
On March 22nd 2024, an aircraft dropped bombs [exact number unknown] into R--- village, Noh Poe village tract, damaging 5 houses. One bomb landed into a church area [damaging the church walls] and damaging an [animist] temple [causing no injuries to villagers because they had already fled].
Saw H---, a villager whose house was damaged [by the air strike on March 22nd 2024], said that due to the air strikes, villagers from R--- village and K--- village, were afraid to live in their villages as they have a deep fear of aircraft [air strikes]. There were three types of aircraft that came and did reconnaissance during March [2024]: villagers witnessed fighter jets, helicopters and bombers conducting reconnaissance in Kaw T’Ree Township.
These [aforementioned incidents] are human rights violations that have happened in Kaw T’Ree Township (a Karen National Union (KNU)[16]-controlled area), Dooplaya District, in Southeast Burma. Due to such [attacks], villagers did not dare to turn on their lights at nighttime. They [villagers] have to live in the dark. For villagers, reconnaissance and air strikes into villages are terrifying. Villagers were not only afraid to stay in the village but also afraid to travel.
March 2024: Fighting in S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town
On March 5th 2024, combined troops of KNLA and PDF soldiers attacked one of the SAC’s police stations in S--- village, near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, in Kaw T’Ree Township. [The distance between the two, S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, is around 250 metres away.]
From March 7th to 18th, the fighting [firing guns, shelling and air strikes] happened continuously. On March 7th 2024, fighting happened on a road near the Asian Highway which is located between Kaw T’Ree Town, and Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, Hpa-an District. The combined soldiers of KNLA and PDF attacked [SAC] LIBs #355, #356, and #357, and [SAC’s] Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, which are all under the command of Strategic Operation Command #12. [Due to the fighting], villagers left their homes, belongings and properties, and fled to other places. Some fled to Myawaddy. Some fled to the borderland, to L--- Town [Thailand]. Some fled to Hpa-an District.
On March 13th 2024, a KHRG field researcher went to S--- village and witnessed many houses that had been burned, damaged or destroyed due to the fighting, air strikes, and bombs dropped [by the SAC] in S--- village. On March 14th 2024, when the field researcher went to S--- village [again], no one was in the village [as villagers had fled to safer areas to shelter]. During the fighting [that occurred from March 7th to 18th], [SAC] LIB #275 fired mortar shells into the fighting area [near the Asian Highway], which did not hit their opponents: KNLA and PDF. However, [the mortar shells] damaged many buildings of villagers in S--- village.
On March 16th, Naw I--- and Saw J---, a husband and wife, told the KHRG researcher about the above [incidents in an] interview. The couple lives in S--- village, next to Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, near the Asian Highway, between Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, and T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. The couple are daily labourers, and as they did not have enough money to flee, they remained in S--- village. According to the couple, other villagers fled to Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town. Some [villagers] fled to T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District, some fled to P--- IDP camp, in P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, and some fled to the borderland, in L--- Town, Thailand.
This fighting [from March 7th-18th 2024] involved Cobra Column Company #1 and #2 (under the command of Battalion #28, from Dooplaya District), along with PDF combined troops, and KNLA Battalion #101 (from Hpa-an District), who attacked the SAC’s Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, [including] LIBs #355, #356, and #357 army camps. The SAC used aircraft to do reconnaissance and dropped bombs every day into villages [in Noh Poe village tract]. Some bombs also landed on Aa--- village and Ab--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, in T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District.
Although the conflict [between the SAC and the KNLA] is [an ongoing] civil war, the military government [SAC] uses helicopters, fighter jets and bombers [against civilians]. They [the SAC] bombed and damaged S--- village and the surrounding areas of the village. They [the bombs] landed inside Hpa-an District as well, including: Ab--- village, Aa--- village, and Ac--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. In March 2024, fighting occurred every day and bombs were dropped almost every day. From March 7th to 18th, the fighting did not stop. Likewise, air strikes also did not stop.
The fighting [in Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town in the month of March] displaced more than 5,000 villagers. There were increased numbers in injuries [exact number unknown] and there was also at least one death of a villager in S--- village due to the fighting. [The fighting resulted in one villager being shot. However, as villagers fled the area, the KHRG researcher could not follow up on the details and condition of the injured.] As of July 30th 2024, the villagers have not returned to their village.
Shelling in Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract
From January to March 2024, [SAC] Infantry Battalion (IB) #97 fired shells into both Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, almost every day. Villagers from Maw Ma village reported to a KHRG field researcher that they heard firing sounds. [Villagers did not dare to travel to check where the shell landed.] Therefore, villagers were afraid to travel to purchase goods in Kaw T’Ree Town.[17]
Further background reading on the situation of air strikes in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
This photo was taken in March 2024, at M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. On March 7th 2024, SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #275 fired 120 mm shells into M--- village, injuring one villager. The picture shows the injury sustained by Naw F--- on her leg from shrapnel after SAC shelling struck her rice barn. [Photo: KHRG]
December 2023 and January 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- area
On December 2nd 2023, in the evening time at 5 pm, a State Administration Council (SAC)[2] fighter jet dropped two bombs into [the area near] M--- village, Noh Poe village tract[3], Kaw T’Ree Township, killing two villagers and injuring one villager. At 5 pm, Saw[4] A--- and Saw B--- were sitting face to face to have dinner at their hut in their plantation area, located on the western side of M--- area. Saw B--- explained: “When the bomb exploded, everything went black as I closed my eyes tight and when I opened my eyes, I saw that Saw A--- was already lying on the ground [as he died instantly from his injuries]. When I moved beside him to help him, I realised that I had difficulties to move my left hand as I was also injured on my shoulder by the shrapnel.”
The same bomb also killed U[5] C---, who was heading to [the communal] pasture field to tie his cows. U C--- was injured by shrapnel and died on the spot.
On December 2nd 2023, around 9:30 pm, SAC Strategic Operations Command (SOC)[6], based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, and Infantry Battalion (IB)[7] #275, based near the Asian Highway[8] near Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, shelled into M--- village, injuring two villagers named Naw[9] D--- and Saw E---. The two villagers were sent to O--- clinic, in L---Town [in Tak province], Thailand. Naw D--- was severely injured [exact injuries unknown], thus she was referred to L--- General Hospital. Following the incident, villagers did not dare to live in the village, thus, some villagers left their plantations and farms without harvesting and were displaced to Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps [in P--- village, in P’Loo village tract, and Q--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract].
In January 2024, two SAC Strategic Operations Commands (SOCs), based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, IB #275, based near Myawaddy Town, and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[10] #355, based near the Asian Highway (near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town), fired mortar shells almost every evening during the month of January into M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the surrounding areas. Some of the shells landed on M--- village, as well as on villagers’ farmland areas. Thus, farmers worked on their farmland in fear [of attacks]. [No casualties were recorded as villagers were displaced from the village.]
Impact on schools in M--- village
Schools located in M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, operating under the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[11],were forced to close due to the general risk of shelling from ongoing attacks on a middle school in M--- village. The academic year of KECD’s schools usually starts during the first week of July and ends in the last week of March. Parents, village authorities, and teachers were worried for students attending the 2023-2024 academic year, therefore the middle school closed in December 2023.
In addition, villagers did not dare to live in their village. Some villagers fled to P--- IDP camp, P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township [in December 2023]. Some [villagers] fled to Q--- IDP camp, Thay Baw Boh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township. [Some] villagers did not dare to return to their homes until March 2024.
March 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- village, K--- village and R--- village
Starting March 5th 2024, an SAC fighter jet conducted reconnaissance and dropped at least five bombs in a week [onto K--- village and R--- village, Noh Poe village tract]. A helicopter came [and conducted reconnaissance] at least three times in the same week, when fighting happened. A bomber also came almost every day [in the month of March] and dropped bombs. Therefore, villagers from Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were constantly living in fear [and some fled to the IDP camps mentioned above].
On March 7th 2024, Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[12]’s Cobra Column[13] soldiers; KNLA Company #1 and Company #2, under Battalion #28; and People’s Defence Force (PDF)[14] [soldiers] attacked [SAC] LIB #355 army camp [located near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town]. Following the attack, on the same day, [SAC] LIB #275 fired 120 mm shells indiscriminately into M--- village. One of the shells exploded inside M--- village and injured Naw F--- (58 years old) on her thigh and damaged her rice barn. She was sent to a hospital by KNLA soldiers from Battalion #28, Company #1. Other shells landed on the surrounding area of the village. Due to the frequent indiscriminate shelling, villagers [who had returned in March] did not dare to live in their village [anymore], so they all fled outside of their village.
Additionally, at 3:20 pm [on March 7th], the SAC conducted an air strike via helicopter on the fighting area [in SAC LIB #355 army camp]. Later, on the same day, at 9:30 pm, the SAC conducted air strikes with two fighter jets, so villagers were scared. Villagers from M---, Y---, Z---, and K--- villages, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were scared [to live in the villages].
On March 8th at 3:30 am, the SAC [exact Artillery Unit unknown] conducted air strikes four times into M--- village. They also conducted shelling every few days at different times of the day [until the end of March]. At 7:30 am, sounds of gunfire and shelling appeared. [No villager was injured as they had already left the village, prior to the incident.] Shelling did not happen every day but [SAC] LIBs #275, #357, #356, and Strategic Operations Command based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town fired shells every two to three days into M--- village and K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the villages’ surrounding areas, until March 31st 2024.
On March 20th 2024, at 5 pm, an SAC aircraft [fighter jet] dropped bombs into K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and killed a villager, Saw G--- and injured two women from K--- village, and damaged 5 houses, an elementary school inside a church compound, an animist temple, and one middle school.[15]
On March 22nd 2024, an aircraft dropped bombs [exact number unknown] into R--- village, Noh Poe village tract, damaging 5 houses. One bomb landed into a church area [damaging the church walls] and damaging an [animist] temple [causing no injuries to villagers because they had already fled].
Saw H---, a villager whose house was damaged [by the air strike on March 22nd 2024], said that due to the air strikes, villagers from R--- village and K--- village, were afraid to live in their villages as they have a deep fear of aircraft [air strikes]. There were three types of aircraft that came and did reconnaissance during March [2024]: villagers witnessed fighter jets, helicopters and bombers conducting reconnaissance in Kaw T’Ree Township.
These [aforementioned incidents] are human rights violations that have happened in Kaw T’Ree Township (a Karen National Union (KNU)[16]-controlled area), Dooplaya District, in Southeast Burma. Due to such [attacks], villagers did not dare to turn on their lights at nighttime. They [villagers] have to live in the dark. For villagers, reconnaissance and air strikes into villages are terrifying. Villagers were not only afraid to stay in the village but also afraid to travel.
March 2024: Fighting in S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town
On March 5th 2024, combined troops of KNLA and PDF soldiers attacked one of the SAC’s police stations in S--- village, near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, in Kaw T’Ree Township. [The distance between the two, S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, is around 250 metres away.]
From March 7th to 18th, the fighting [firing guns, shelling and air strikes] happened continuously. On March 7th 2024, fighting happened on a road near the Asian Highway which is located between Kaw T’Ree Town, and Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, Hpa-an District. The combined soldiers of KNLA and PDF attacked [SAC] LIBs #355, #356, and #357, and [SAC’s] Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, which are all under the command of Strategic Operation Command #12. [Due to the fighting], villagers left their homes, belongings and properties, and fled to other places. Some fled to Myawaddy. Some fled to the borderland, to L--- Town [Thailand]. Some fled to Hpa-an District.
On March 13th 2024, a KHRG field researcher went to S--- village and witnessed many houses that had been burned, damaged or destroyed due to the fighting, air strikes, and bombs dropped [by the SAC] in S--- village. On March 14th 2024, when the field researcher went to S--- village [again], no one was in the village [as villagers had fled to safer areas to shelter]. During the fighting [that occurred from March 7th to 18th], [SAC] LIB #275 fired mortar shells into the fighting area [near the Asian Highway], which did not hit their opponents: KNLA and PDF. However, [the mortar shells] damaged many buildings of villagers in S--- village.
On March 16th, Naw I--- and Saw J---, a husband and wife, told the KHRG researcher about the above [incidents in an] interview. The couple lives in S--- village, next to Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, near the Asian Highway, between Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, and T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. The couple are daily labourers, and as they did not have enough money to flee, they remained in S--- village. According to the couple, other villagers fled to Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town. Some [villagers] fled to T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District, some fled to P--- IDP camp, in P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, and some fled to the borderland, in L--- Town, Thailand.
This fighting [from March 7th-18th 2024] involved Cobra Column Company #1 and #2 (under the command of Battalion #28, from Dooplaya District), along with PDF combined troops, and KNLA Battalion #101 (from Hpa-an District), who attacked the SAC’s Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, [including] LIBs #355, #356, and #357 army camps. The SAC used aircraft to do reconnaissance and dropped bombs every day into villages [in Noh Poe village tract]. Some bombs also landed on Aa--- village and Ab--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, in T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District.
Although the conflict [between the SAC and the KNLA] is [an ongoing] civil war, the military government [SAC] uses helicopters, fighter jets and bombers [against civilians]. They [the SAC] bombed and damaged S--- village and the surrounding areas of the village. They [the bombs] landed inside Hpa-an District as well, including: Ab--- village, Aa--- village, and Ac--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. In March 2024, fighting occurred every day and bombs were dropped almost every day. From March 7th to 18th, the fighting did not stop. Likewise, air strikes also did not stop.
The fighting [in Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town in the month of March] displaced more than 5,000 villagers. There were increased numbers in injuries [exact number unknown] and there was also at least one death of a villager in S--- village due to the fighting. [The fighting resulted in one villager being shot. However, as villagers fled the area, the KHRG researcher could not follow up on the details and condition of the injured.] As of July 30th 2024, the villagers have not returned to their village.
Shelling in Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract
From January to March 2024, [SAC] Infantry Battalion (IB) #97 fired shells into both Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, almost every day. Villagers from Maw Ma village reported to a KHRG field researcher that they heard firing sounds. [Villagers did not dare to travel to check where the shell landed.] Therefore, villagers were afraid to travel to purchase goods in Kaw T’Ree Town.[17]
Further background reading on the situation of air strikes in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
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These photos were taken in March 2024 at K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. The two photos on the top display villagers’ houses that were destroyed due to the SAC air strike on March 20th 2024. The photo on the bottom left displays the destruction of an elementary school, which was located inside a church compound. The photo on the bottom right displays a middle school in K--- village that was destroyed due to the air strike. [Photos: KHRG]
December 2023 and January 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- area
On December 2nd 2023, in the evening time at 5 pm, a State Administration Council (SAC)[2] fighter jet dropped two bombs into [the area near] M--- village, Noh Poe village tract[3], Kaw T’Ree Township, killing two villagers and injuring one villager. At 5 pm, Saw[4] A--- and Saw B--- were sitting face to face to have dinner at their hut in their plantation area, located on the western side of M--- area. Saw B--- explained: “When the bomb exploded, everything went black as I closed my eyes tight and when I opened my eyes, I saw that Saw A--- was already lying on the ground [as he died instantly from his injuries]. When I moved beside him to help him, I realised that I had difficulties to move my left hand as I was also injured on my shoulder by the shrapnel.”
The same bomb also killed U[5] C---, who was heading to [the communal] pasture field to tie his cows. U C--- was injured by shrapnel and died on the spot.
On December 2nd 2023, around 9:30 pm, SAC Strategic Operations Command (SOC)[6], based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, and Infantry Battalion (IB)[7] #275, based near the Asian Highway[8] near Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, shelled into M--- village, injuring two villagers named Naw[9] D--- and Saw E---. The two villagers were sent to O--- clinic, in L---Town [in Tak province], Thailand. Naw D--- was severely injured [exact injuries unknown], thus she was referred to L--- General Hospital. Following the incident, villagers did not dare to live in the village, thus, some villagers left their plantations and farms without harvesting and were displaced to Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps [in P--- village, in P’Loo village tract, and Q--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract].
In January 2024, two SAC Strategic Operations Commands (SOCs), based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, IB #275, based near Myawaddy Town, and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[10] #355, based near the Asian Highway (near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town), fired mortar shells almost every evening during the month of January into M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the surrounding areas. Some of the shells landed on M--- village, as well as on villagers’ farmland areas. Thus, farmers worked on their farmland in fear [of attacks]. [No casualties were recorded as villagers were displaced from the village.]
Impact on schools in M--- village
Schools located in M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, operating under the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[11],were forced to close due to the general risk of shelling from ongoing attacks on a middle school in M--- village. The academic year of KECD’s schools usually starts during the first week of July and ends in the last week of March. Parents, village authorities, and teachers were worried for students attending the 2023-2024 academic year, therefore the middle school closed in December 2023.
In addition, villagers did not dare to live in their village. Some villagers fled to P--- IDP camp, P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township [in December 2023]. Some [villagers] fled to Q--- IDP camp, Thay Baw Boh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township. [Some] villagers did not dare to return to their homes until March 2024.
March 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- village, K--- village and R--- village
Starting March 5th 2024, an SAC fighter jet conducted reconnaissance and dropped at least five bombs in a week [onto K--- village and R--- village, Noh Poe village tract]. A helicopter came [and conducted reconnaissance] at least three times in the same week, when fighting happened. A bomber also came almost every day [in the month of March] and dropped bombs. Therefore, villagers from Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were constantly living in fear [and some fled to the IDP camps mentioned above].
On March 7th 2024, Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[12]’s Cobra Column[13] soldiers; KNLA Company #1 and Company #2, under Battalion #28; and People’s Defence Force (PDF)[14] [soldiers] attacked [SAC] LIB #355 army camp [located near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town]. Following the attack, on the same day, [SAC] LIB #275 fired 120 mm shells indiscriminately into M--- village. One of the shells exploded inside M--- village and injured Naw F--- (58 years old) on her thigh and damaged her rice barn. She was sent to a hospital by KNLA soldiers from Battalion #28, Company #1. Other shells landed on the surrounding area of the village. Due to the frequent indiscriminate shelling, villagers [who had returned in March] did not dare to live in their village [anymore], so they all fled outside of their village.
Additionally, at 3:20 pm [on March 7th], the SAC conducted an air strike via helicopter on the fighting area [in SAC LIB #355 army camp]. Later, on the same day, at 9:30 pm, the SAC conducted air strikes with two fighter jets, so villagers were scared. Villagers from M---, Y---, Z---, and K--- villages, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were scared [to live in the villages].
On March 8th at 3:30 am, the SAC [exact Artillery Unit unknown] conducted air strikes four times into M--- village. They also conducted shelling every few days at different times of the day [until the end of March]. At 7:30 am, sounds of gunfire and shelling appeared. [No villager was injured as they had already left the village, prior to the incident.] Shelling did not happen every day but [SAC] LIBs #275, #357, #356, and Strategic Operations Command based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town fired shells every two to three days into M--- village and K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the villages’ surrounding areas, until March 31st 2024.
On March 20th 2024, at 5 pm, an SAC aircraft [fighter jet] dropped bombs into K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and killed a villager, Saw G--- and injured two women from K--- village, and damaged 5 houses, an elementary school inside a church compound, an animist temple, and one middle school.[15]
On March 22nd 2024, an aircraft dropped bombs [exact number unknown] into R--- village, Noh Poe village tract, damaging 5 houses. One bomb landed into a church area [damaging the church walls] and damaging an [animist] temple [causing no injuries to villagers because they had already fled].
Saw H---, a villager whose house was damaged [by the air strike on March 22nd 2024], said that due to the air strikes, villagers from R--- village and K--- village, were afraid to live in their villages as they have a deep fear of aircraft [air strikes]. There were three types of aircraft that came and did reconnaissance during March [2024]: villagers witnessed fighter jets, helicopters and bombers conducting reconnaissance in Kaw T’Ree Township.
These [aforementioned incidents] are human rights violations that have happened in Kaw T’Ree Township (a Karen National Union (KNU)[16]-controlled area), Dooplaya District, in Southeast Burma. Due to such [attacks], villagers did not dare to turn on their lights at nighttime. They [villagers] have to live in the dark. For villagers, reconnaissance and air strikes into villages are terrifying. Villagers were not only afraid to stay in the village but also afraid to travel.
March 2024: Fighting in S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town
On March 5th 2024, combined troops of KNLA and PDF soldiers attacked one of the SAC’s police stations in S--- village, near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, in Kaw T’Ree Township. [The distance between the two, S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, is around 250 metres away.]
From March 7th to 18th, the fighting [firing guns, shelling and air strikes] happened continuously. On March 7th 2024, fighting happened on a road near the Asian Highway which is located between Kaw T’Ree Town, and Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, Hpa-an District. The combined soldiers of KNLA and PDF attacked [SAC] LIBs #355, #356, and #357, and [SAC’s] Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, which are all under the command of Strategic Operation Command #12. [Due to the fighting], villagers left their homes, belongings and properties, and fled to other places. Some fled to Myawaddy. Some fled to the borderland, to L--- Town [Thailand]. Some fled to Hpa-an District.
On March 13th 2024, a KHRG field researcher went to S--- village and witnessed many houses that had been burned, damaged or destroyed due to the fighting, air strikes, and bombs dropped [by the SAC] in S--- village. On March 14th 2024, when the field researcher went to S--- village [again], no one was in the village [as villagers had fled to safer areas to shelter]. During the fighting [that occurred from March 7th to 18th], [SAC] LIB #275 fired mortar shells into the fighting area [near the Asian Highway], which did not hit their opponents: KNLA and PDF. However, [the mortar shells] damaged many buildings of villagers in S--- village.
On March 16th, Naw I--- and Saw J---, a husband and wife, told the KHRG researcher about the above [incidents in an] interview. The couple lives in S--- village, next to Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, near the Asian Highway, between Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, and T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. The couple are daily labourers, and as they did not have enough money to flee, they remained in S--- village. According to the couple, other villagers fled to Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town. Some [villagers] fled to T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District, some fled to P--- IDP camp, in P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, and some fled to the borderland, in L--- Town, Thailand.
This fighting [from March 7th-18th 2024] involved Cobra Column Company #1 and #2 (under the command of Battalion #28, from Dooplaya District), along with PDF combined troops, and KNLA Battalion #101 (from Hpa-an District), who attacked the SAC’s Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, [including] LIBs #355, #356, and #357 army camps. The SAC used aircraft to do reconnaissance and dropped bombs every day into villages [in Noh Poe village tract]. Some bombs also landed on Aa--- village and Ab--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, in T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District.
Although the conflict [between the SAC and the KNLA] is [an ongoing] civil war, the military government [SAC] uses helicopters, fighter jets and bombers [against civilians]. They [the SAC] bombed and damaged S--- village and the surrounding areas of the village. They [the bombs] landed inside Hpa-an District as well, including: Ab--- village, Aa--- village, and Ac--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. In March 2024, fighting occurred every day and bombs were dropped almost every day. From March 7th to 18th, the fighting did not stop. Likewise, air strikes also did not stop.
The fighting [in Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town in the month of March] displaced more than 5,000 villagers. There were increased numbers in injuries [exact number unknown] and there was also at least one death of a villager in S--- village due to the fighting. [The fighting resulted in one villager being shot. However, as villagers fled the area, the KHRG researcher could not follow up on the details and condition of the injured.] As of July 30th 2024, the villagers have not returned to their village.
Shelling in Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract
From January to March 2024, [SAC] Infantry Battalion (IB) #97 fired shells into both Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, almost every day. Villagers from Maw Ma village reported to a KHRG field researcher that they heard firing sounds. [Villagers did not dare to travel to check where the shell landed.] Therefore, villagers were afraid to travel to purchase goods in Kaw T’Ree Town.[17]
Further background reading on the situation of air strikes in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
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These photos were taken in March 2024 at R--- village, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. On March 22nd 2024, the SAC dropped a bomb on R--- village, damaging a church, temple, and 5 houses. The photo on the left shows the damaged church. The photo on the right displays a villager’s damaged house. [Photos: KHRG]
December 2023 and January 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- area
On December 2nd 2023, in the evening time at 5 pm, a State Administration Council (SAC)[2] fighter jet dropped two bombs into [the area near] M--- village, Noh Poe village tract[3], Kaw T’Ree Township, killing two villagers and injuring one villager. At 5 pm, Saw[4] A--- and Saw B--- were sitting face to face to have dinner at their hut in their plantation area, located on the western side of M--- area. Saw B--- explained: “When the bomb exploded, everything went black as I closed my eyes tight and when I opened my eyes, I saw that Saw A--- was already lying on the ground [as he died instantly from his injuries]. When I moved beside him to help him, I realised that I had difficulties to move my left hand as I was also injured on my shoulder by the shrapnel.”
The same bomb also killed U[5] C---, who was heading to [the communal] pasture field to tie his cows. U C--- was injured by shrapnel and died on the spot.
On December 2nd 2023, around 9:30 pm, SAC Strategic Operations Command (SOC)[6], based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, and Infantry Battalion (IB)[7] #275, based near the Asian Highway[8] near Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, shelled into M--- village, injuring two villagers named Naw[9] D--- and Saw E---. The two villagers were sent to O--- clinic, in L---Town [in Tak province], Thailand. Naw D--- was severely injured [exact injuries unknown], thus she was referred to L--- General Hospital. Following the incident, villagers did not dare to live in the village, thus, some villagers left their plantations and farms without harvesting and were displaced to Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps [in P--- village, in P’Loo village tract, and Q--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract].
In January 2024, two SAC Strategic Operations Commands (SOCs), based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, IB #275, based near Myawaddy Town, and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[10] #355, based near the Asian Highway (near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town), fired mortar shells almost every evening during the month of January into M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the surrounding areas. Some of the shells landed on M--- village, as well as on villagers’ farmland areas. Thus, farmers worked on their farmland in fear [of attacks]. [No casualties were recorded as villagers were displaced from the village.]
Impact on schools in M--- village
Schools located in M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, operating under the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[11],were forced to close due to the general risk of shelling from ongoing attacks on a middle school in M--- village. The academic year of KECD’s schools usually starts during the first week of July and ends in the last week of March. Parents, village authorities, and teachers were worried for students attending the 2023-2024 academic year, therefore the middle school closed in December 2023.
In addition, villagers did not dare to live in their village. Some villagers fled to P--- IDP camp, P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township [in December 2023]. Some [villagers] fled to Q--- IDP camp, Thay Baw Boh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township. [Some] villagers did not dare to return to their homes until March 2024.
March 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- village, K--- village and R--- village
Starting March 5th 2024, an SAC fighter jet conducted reconnaissance and dropped at least five bombs in a week [onto K--- village and R--- village, Noh Poe village tract]. A helicopter came [and conducted reconnaissance] at least three times in the same week, when fighting happened. A bomber also came almost every day [in the month of March] and dropped bombs. Therefore, villagers from Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were constantly living in fear [and some fled to the IDP camps mentioned above].
On March 7th 2024, Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[12]’s Cobra Column[13] soldiers; KNLA Company #1 and Company #2, under Battalion #28; and People’s Defence Force (PDF)[14] [soldiers] attacked [SAC] LIB #355 army camp [located near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town]. Following the attack, on the same day, [SAC] LIB #275 fired 120 mm shells indiscriminately into M--- village. One of the shells exploded inside M--- village and injured Naw F--- (58 years old) on her thigh and damaged her rice barn. She was sent to a hospital by KNLA soldiers from Battalion #28, Company #1. Other shells landed on the surrounding area of the village. Due to the frequent indiscriminate shelling, villagers [who had returned in March] did not dare to live in their village [anymore], so they all fled outside of their village.
Additionally, at 3:20 pm [on March 7th], the SAC conducted an air strike via helicopter on the fighting area [in SAC LIB #355 army camp]. Later, on the same day, at 9:30 pm, the SAC conducted air strikes with two fighter jets, so villagers were scared. Villagers from M---, Y---, Z---, and K--- villages, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were scared [to live in the villages].
On March 8th at 3:30 am, the SAC [exact Artillery Unit unknown] conducted air strikes four times into M--- village. They also conducted shelling every few days at different times of the day [until the end of March]. At 7:30 am, sounds of gunfire and shelling appeared. [No villager was injured as they had already left the village, prior to the incident.] Shelling did not happen every day but [SAC] LIBs #275, #357, #356, and Strategic Operations Command based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town fired shells every two to three days into M--- village and K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the villages’ surrounding areas, until March 31st 2024.
On March 20th 2024, at 5 pm, an SAC aircraft [fighter jet] dropped bombs into K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and killed a villager, Saw G--- and injured two women from K--- village, and damaged 5 houses, an elementary school inside a church compound, an animist temple, and one middle school.[15]
On March 22nd 2024, an aircraft dropped bombs [exact number unknown] into R--- village, Noh Poe village tract, damaging 5 houses. One bomb landed into a church area [damaging the church walls] and damaging an [animist] temple [causing no injuries to villagers because they had already fled].
Saw H---, a villager whose house was damaged [by the air strike on March 22nd 2024], said that due to the air strikes, villagers from R--- village and K--- village, were afraid to live in their villages as they have a deep fear of aircraft [air strikes]. There were three types of aircraft that came and did reconnaissance during March [2024]: villagers witnessed fighter jets, helicopters and bombers conducting reconnaissance in Kaw T’Ree Township.
These [aforementioned incidents] are human rights violations that have happened in Kaw T’Ree Township (a Karen National Union (KNU)[16]-controlled area), Dooplaya District, in Southeast Burma. Due to such [attacks], villagers did not dare to turn on their lights at nighttime. They [villagers] have to live in the dark. For villagers, reconnaissance and air strikes into villages are terrifying. Villagers were not only afraid to stay in the village but also afraid to travel.
March 2024: Fighting in S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town
On March 5th 2024, combined troops of KNLA and PDF soldiers attacked one of the SAC’s police stations in S--- village, near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, in Kaw T’Ree Township. [The distance between the two, S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, is around 250 metres away.]
From March 7th to 18th, the fighting [firing guns, shelling and air strikes] happened continuously. On March 7th 2024, fighting happened on a road near the Asian Highway which is located between Kaw T’Ree Town, and Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, Hpa-an District. The combined soldiers of KNLA and PDF attacked [SAC] LIBs #355, #356, and #357, and [SAC’s] Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, which are all under the command of Strategic Operation Command #12. [Due to the fighting], villagers left their homes, belongings and properties, and fled to other places. Some fled to Myawaddy. Some fled to the borderland, to L--- Town [Thailand]. Some fled to Hpa-an District.
On March 13th 2024, a KHRG field researcher went to S--- village and witnessed many houses that had been burned, damaged or destroyed due to the fighting, air strikes, and bombs dropped [by the SAC] in S--- village. On March 14th 2024, when the field researcher went to S--- village [again], no one was in the village [as villagers had fled to safer areas to shelter]. During the fighting [that occurred from March 7th to 18th], [SAC] LIB #275 fired mortar shells into the fighting area [near the Asian Highway], which did not hit their opponents: KNLA and PDF. However, [the mortar shells] damaged many buildings of villagers in S--- village.
On March 16th, Naw I--- and Saw J---, a husband and wife, told the KHRG researcher about the above [incidents in an] interview. The couple lives in S--- village, next to Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, near the Asian Highway, between Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, and T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. The couple are daily labourers, and as they did not have enough money to flee, they remained in S--- village. According to the couple, other villagers fled to Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town. Some [villagers] fled to T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District, some fled to P--- IDP camp, in P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, and some fled to the borderland, in L--- Town, Thailand.
This fighting [from March 7th-18th 2024] involved Cobra Column Company #1 and #2 (under the command of Battalion #28, from Dooplaya District), along with PDF combined troops, and KNLA Battalion #101 (from Hpa-an District), who attacked the SAC’s Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, [including] LIBs #355, #356, and #357 army camps. The SAC used aircraft to do reconnaissance and dropped bombs every day into villages [in Noh Poe village tract]. Some bombs also landed on Aa--- village and Ab--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, in T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District.
Although the conflict [between the SAC and the KNLA] is [an ongoing] civil war, the military government [SAC] uses helicopters, fighter jets and bombers [against civilians]. They [the SAC] bombed and damaged S--- village and the surrounding areas of the village. They [the bombs] landed inside Hpa-an District as well, including: Ab--- village, Aa--- village, and Ac--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. In March 2024, fighting occurred every day and bombs were dropped almost every day. From March 7th to 18th, the fighting did not stop. Likewise, air strikes also did not stop.
The fighting [in Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town in the month of March] displaced more than 5,000 villagers. There were increased numbers in injuries [exact number unknown] and there was also at least one death of a villager in S--- village due to the fighting. [The fighting resulted in one villager being shot. However, as villagers fled the area, the KHRG researcher could not follow up on the details and condition of the injured.] As of July 30th 2024, the villagers have not returned to their village.
Shelling in Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract
From January to March 2024, [SAC] Infantry Battalion (IB) #97 fired shells into both Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, almost every day. Villagers from Maw Ma village reported to a KHRG field researcher that they heard firing sounds. [Villagers did not dare to travel to check where the shell landed.] Therefore, villagers were afraid to travel to purchase goods in Kaw T’Ree Town.[17]
Further background reading on the situation of air strikes in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
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The four photos were taken in March 2024 in S--- village, near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. The SAC regularly conducted air strikes from March 7th to March 18th 2024, resulting in villagers’ houses being damaged. [Photos: KHRG]
December 2023 and January 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- area
On December 2nd 2023, in the evening time at 5 pm, a State Administration Council (SAC)[2] fighter jet dropped two bombs into [the area near] M--- village, Noh Poe village tract[3], Kaw T’Ree Township, killing two villagers and injuring one villager. At 5 pm, Saw[4] A--- and Saw B--- were sitting face to face to have dinner at their hut in their plantation area, located on the western side of M--- area. Saw B--- explained: “When the bomb exploded, everything went black as I closed my eyes tight and when I opened my eyes, I saw that Saw A--- was already lying on the ground [as he died instantly from his injuries]. When I moved beside him to help him, I realised that I had difficulties to move my left hand as I was also injured on my shoulder by the shrapnel.”
The same bomb also killed U[5] C---, who was heading to [the communal] pasture field to tie his cows. U C--- was injured by shrapnel and died on the spot.
On December 2nd 2023, around 9:30 pm, SAC Strategic Operations Command (SOC)[6], based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, and Infantry Battalion (IB)[7] #275, based near the Asian Highway[8] near Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, shelled into M--- village, injuring two villagers named Naw[9] D--- and Saw E---. The two villagers were sent to O--- clinic, in L---Town [in Tak province], Thailand. Naw D--- was severely injured [exact injuries unknown], thus she was referred to L--- General Hospital. Following the incident, villagers did not dare to live in the village, thus, some villagers left their plantations and farms without harvesting and were displaced to Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps [in P--- village, in P’Loo village tract, and Q--- village, Thay Baw Boh village tract].
In January 2024, two SAC Strategic Operations Commands (SOCs), based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, IB #275, based near Myawaddy Town, and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[10] #355, based near the Asian Highway (near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town), fired mortar shells almost every evening during the month of January into M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the surrounding areas. Some of the shells landed on M--- village, as well as on villagers’ farmland areas. Thus, farmers worked on their farmland in fear [of attacks]. [No casualties were recorded as villagers were displaced from the village.]
Impact on schools in M--- village
Schools located in M--- village, Noh Poe village tract, operating under the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[11],were forced to close due to the general risk of shelling from ongoing attacks on a middle school in M--- village. The academic year of KECD’s schools usually starts during the first week of July and ends in the last week of March. Parents, village authorities, and teachers were worried for students attending the 2023-2024 academic year, therefore the middle school closed in December 2023.
In addition, villagers did not dare to live in their village. Some villagers fled to P--- IDP camp, P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township [in December 2023]. Some [villagers] fled to Q--- IDP camp, Thay Baw Boh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township. [Some] villagers did not dare to return to their homes until March 2024.
March 2024: Air strikes and shelling in M--- village, K--- village and R--- village
Starting March 5th 2024, an SAC fighter jet conducted reconnaissance and dropped at least five bombs in a week [onto K--- village and R--- village, Noh Poe village tract]. A helicopter came [and conducted reconnaissance] at least three times in the same week, when fighting happened. A bomber also came almost every day [in the month of March] and dropped bombs. Therefore, villagers from Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were constantly living in fear [and some fled to the IDP camps mentioned above].
On March 7th 2024, Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[12]’s Cobra Column[13] soldiers; KNLA Company #1 and Company #2, under Battalion #28; and People’s Defence Force (PDF)[14] [soldiers] attacked [SAC] LIB #355 army camp [located near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town]. Following the attack, on the same day, [SAC] LIB #275 fired 120 mm shells indiscriminately into M--- village. One of the shells exploded inside M--- village and injured Naw F--- (58 years old) on her thigh and damaged her rice barn. She was sent to a hospital by KNLA soldiers from Battalion #28, Company #1. Other shells landed on the surrounding area of the village. Due to the frequent indiscriminate shelling, villagers [who had returned in March] did not dare to live in their village [anymore], so they all fled outside of their village.
Additionally, at 3:20 pm [on March 7th], the SAC conducted an air strike via helicopter on the fighting area [in SAC LIB #355 army camp]. Later, on the same day, at 9:30 pm, the SAC conducted air strikes with two fighter jets, so villagers were scared. Villagers from M---, Y---, Z---, and K--- villages, Noh Poe village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, were scared [to live in the villages].
On March 8th at 3:30 am, the SAC [exact Artillery Unit unknown] conducted air strikes four times into M--- village. They also conducted shelling every few days at different times of the day [until the end of March]. At 7:30 am, sounds of gunfire and shelling appeared. [No villager was injured as they had already left the village, prior to the incident.] Shelling did not happen every day but [SAC] LIBs #275, #357, #356, and Strategic Operations Command based near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town fired shells every two to three days into M--- village and K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and the villages’ surrounding areas, until March 31st 2024.
On March 20th 2024, at 5 pm, an SAC aircraft [fighter jet] dropped bombs into K--- village, Noh Poe village tract, and killed a villager, Saw G--- and injured two women from K--- village, and damaged 5 houses, an elementary school inside a church compound, an animist temple, and one middle school.[15]
On March 22nd 2024, an aircraft dropped bombs [exact number unknown] into R--- village, Noh Poe village tract, damaging 5 houses. One bomb landed into a church area [damaging the church walls] and damaging an [animist] temple [causing no injuries to villagers because they had already fled].
Saw H---, a villager whose house was damaged [by the air strike on March 22nd 2024], said that due to the air strikes, villagers from R--- village and K--- village, were afraid to live in their villages as they have a deep fear of aircraft [air strikes]. There were three types of aircraft that came and did reconnaissance during March [2024]: villagers witnessed fighter jets, helicopters and bombers conducting reconnaissance in Kaw T’Ree Township.
These [aforementioned incidents] are human rights violations that have happened in Kaw T’Ree Township (a Karen National Union (KNU)[16]-controlled area), Dooplaya District, in Southeast Burma. Due to such [attacks], villagers did not dare to turn on their lights at nighttime. They [villagers] have to live in the dark. For villagers, reconnaissance and air strikes into villages are terrifying. Villagers were not only afraid to stay in the village but also afraid to travel.
March 2024: Fighting in S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town
On March 5th 2024, combined troops of KNLA and PDF soldiers attacked one of the SAC’s police stations in S--- village, near Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, in Kaw T’Ree Township. [The distance between the two, S--- village and Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, is around 250 metres away.]
From March 7th to 18th, the fighting [firing guns, shelling and air strikes] happened continuously. On March 7th 2024, fighting happened on a road near the Asian Highway which is located between Kaw T’Ree Town, and Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town, Hpa-an District. The combined soldiers of KNLA and PDF attacked [SAC] LIBs #355, #356, and #357, and [SAC’s] Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, which are all under the command of Strategic Operation Command #12. [Due to the fighting], villagers left their homes, belongings and properties, and fled to other places. Some fled to Myawaddy. Some fled to the borderland, to L--- Town [Thailand]. Some fled to Hpa-an District.
On March 13th 2024, a KHRG field researcher went to S--- village and witnessed many houses that had been burned, damaged or destroyed due to the fighting, air strikes, and bombs dropped [by the SAC] in S--- village. On March 14th 2024, when the field researcher went to S--- village [again], no one was in the village [as villagers had fled to safer areas to shelter]. During the fighting [that occurred from March 7th to 18th], [SAC] LIB #275 fired mortar shells into the fighting area [near the Asian Highway], which did not hit their opponents: KNLA and PDF. However, [the mortar shells] damaged many buildings of villagers in S--- village.
On March 16th, Naw I--- and Saw J---, a husband and wife, told the KHRG researcher about the above [incidents in an] interview. The couple lives in S--- village, next to Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town, near the Asian Highway, between Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, and T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. The couple are daily labourers, and as they did not have enough money to flee, they remained in S--- village. According to the couple, other villagers fled to Ra Ma Tee [Myawaddy] Town. Some [villagers] fled to T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District, some fled to P--- IDP camp, in P’Loo village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, and some fled to the borderland, in L--- Town, Thailand.
This fighting [from March 7th-18th 2024] involved Cobra Column Company #1 and #2 (under the command of Battalion #28, from Dooplaya District), along with PDF combined troops, and KNLA Battalion #101 (from Hpa-an District), who attacked the SAC’s Thin Gan Nyi Naung Strategic Operation Command, [including] LIBs #355, #356, and #357 army camps. The SAC used aircraft to do reconnaissance and dropped bombs every day into villages [in Noh Poe village tract]. Some bombs also landed on Aa--- village and Ab--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, in T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District.
Although the conflict [between the SAC and the KNLA] is [an ongoing] civil war, the military government [SAC] uses helicopters, fighter jets and bombers [against civilians]. They [the SAC] bombed and damaged S--- village and the surrounding areas of the village. They [the bombs] landed inside Hpa-an District as well, including: Ab--- village, Aa--- village, and Ac--- village, Pu Htee Wa Ba Blaw village tract, T’Nay Cha Township, Hpa-an District. In March 2024, fighting occurred every day and bombs were dropped almost every day. From March 7th to 18th, the fighting did not stop. Likewise, air strikes also did not stop.
The fighting [in Thin Gan Nyi Naung Town in the month of March] displaced more than 5,000 villagers. There were increased numbers in injuries [exact number unknown] and there was also at least one death of a villager in S--- village due to the fighting. [The fighting resulted in one villager being shot. However, as villagers fled the area, the KHRG researcher could not follow up on the details and condition of the injured.] As of July 30th 2024, the villagers have not returned to their village.
Shelling in Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract
From January to March 2024, [SAC] Infantry Battalion (IB) #97 fired shells into both Maw Ma village tract and Kaw Nweh village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, almost every day. Villagers from Maw Ma village reported to a KHRG field researcher that they heard firing sounds. [Villagers did not dare to travel to check where the shell landed.] Therefore, villagers were afraid to travel to purchase goods in Kaw T’Ree Town.[17]
Further background reading on the situation of air strikes in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports: