Type of Incident

Air strike by the State Administration Council (SAC)[2] injured villagers

Date of Incident(s)

January 7th 2025

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

P--- village, Paw Hkloh area, K’Ser Doh Township, Mergui-Tavoy District

Victim(s) Information

Name

Saw[3] K---

Naw[4] S---

Age

34 years old

33 years old

Gender

Man

Woman

Ethnicity

Karen

Karen

Marital Status  

Married

Married

Occupation

Farmer

Farmer

Religion

Christian

Christian

Position

Youth leader in the village

-

Village

P--- village, Paw Hkloh area, K’Ser Doh Township, Mergui-Tavoy District

Z--- village, Paw Hkloh area, K’Ser Doh Township, Mergui-Tavoy District

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

SAC Air Force

Myeik Town, Mergui-Tavoy District

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

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

A KHRG researcher saw information regarding this incident on the [Mergui-Tavoy] District’s media news page [named Kwel K'lu media outlet]. Then, he contacted [Karen National Union (KNU)[5]] authorities of [K’Ser Doh] Township and their staff members. He then asked them for the detailed information. [The KHRG researcher also talked with the two victims.]

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

This information is authentic because the incident happened near the [K’Ser Doh] Township’s office. When the air strike happened, the Township authorities and their staff members witnessed it firsthand. [The KHRG researcher also talked with the two victims.]

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On January 7th 2025, at 11:30 am, an SAC [State Administration Council]’s fighter jet from Myeik Town, Mergui-Tavoy District, conducted an air strike into P--- village, Paw Hkloh area, K’Ser Doh Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, a few days after the celebration of the Karen New Year[6] [P--- villagers celebrated it on January 1st 2025]. This is the first time an air strike happened in the [eastern part of] Paw Hkloh area [since the February 2021 coup]. SAC troops had not stayed in the [eastern part of] Paw Hkloh area since [the second-half of] 2024 [as their camps had been captured by armed resistance forces]. The [eastern part of] Paw Hkloh area is only under KNU control.

[On January 7th 2025,] the SAC fighter jet dropped nine bombs and fired a machine gun into the [P---] village [area] as well. From the nine bombs that were dropped from the aircraft, one landed beside a villager’s house, also damaging a nearby nursery school, two [bombs] landed beside a log store and the [other] six [bombs] landed on the villagers’ plantations and hill farms.

Due to the air strike, two villagers were injured. One villager is named Saw K--- (34 years old). He is a Christian and a farmer with two children. He was injured all over his body [by the shrapnel from the explosion]. Another injured villager is Naw S--- (33 years old), a Karen woman. She is also a Christian with two children. She was also injured all over her body [by the shrapnel]. These two villagers were injured because one of the bombs landed close to them. Naw S---, who is from Z--- village, Paw Hkloh area, was visiting Saw K--- at his house in P--- village. When the air strike happened, they were standing beside Saw K---’s door, in front of his house, and having a conversation. One of the bombs from the air strike landed beside the house and exploded. The shrapnel from the explosion injured both of them severely. Saw K--- was injured on both his legs and his body. Naw S--- was also injured on her leg, her left hand was broken and she was also injured on her body.

After the air strike, other villagers [from P--- village] went to help these two injured villagers because they [other villagers] dared not go during the air strike. After that, the two injured villagers were taken to K’Ser Doh Township’s hospital [run by the KNU], which is located in J--- village, Paw Hkloh area, by those villagers who went to help them and Township [KNU] authorities. Since these two villagers were severely injured, [KNU] Township authorities organised transportation on the same night [January 7th 2025] for them to go [be transferred] to the District [hospital located] at the headquarters of [Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[7]] Battalion #12. Because these two injured villagers were severely injured, authorities from Battalion #12 transported them to a hospital in Thailand,located in W--- Town [in Kanchanaburi Province]. On their way [to the hospital in Thailand], the road was damaged [with a hole in the road], so they [the injured villagers] were carried [in a hammock by villagers] into Thailand [from Burma].

These two injured villagers have not received any [financial] support yet [as of January 24th 2025], so they need financial support for further treatment.

Due to the air strike, one villagers’ house, one motorbike, and plantations were damaged as well. So presently [as of January 2025], as [these two] villagers were hit [by the shrapnel from the explosion], other villagers living there [in the Paw Hkloh area] are living in fear and they are afraid [that an air strike would happen again]. So, [as of January 2025] teachers dare not open schools yet and the parents dare not let their children go to school yet.

The place the SAC conducted the air strike is an [appropriate] place for the Karen New Year celebration [because there is ample space for people to gather]. Since the SAC conducted an air strike without fighting happening, some villagers are afraid and anxious [of future strikes]. Because the air strike happened [a few days] after the celebration of Karen New Year [when villagers gathered there], some villagers are doubtful if they should celebrate the Karen New Year in the coming year or not.

[Local KNU authorities informed the KHRG researcher that the fighter jet was from Myeik Town. There is only one air base in Mergui-Tavoy District, located in Myeik Town.].

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

KHRG was allowed to use this information by [K’Ser Doh Township] local [KNU] authorities and villagers. The injured villagers, Saw K--- and Naw S---, also gave permission for this information to be published.