Type of Incident

[Shelling into a village.] Two underage students were injured by mortar shelling conducted by SAC [State Administration Council[2]] soldiers

Date of Incident(s)

January 30th 2024

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Aa--- village, Pgwa Ghaw village tract[3], Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District

Victim(s) Information

Name

Saw[4] L---

Saw Y---

Age

14 years old

16 years old

Gender

Boy

Boy

Ethnicity

Karen

Karen

Marital Status  

-

-

Occupation

Student

Student

Religion

Buddhist

Buddhist

Position

- [Villager]

- [Villager]

Village

Aa--- village

Aa--- village

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[5] #208

K’Ma Moh (Ka Ma Maung) Town [in Lu Thaw Township, Mu Traw (Hpapun) District]

[Unknown]

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

A KHRG researcher went to take pictures of the incident place as he had heard the explosion. [The KHRG researcher interviewed one of the victims, Saw L---, and a teacher named Naw[6] N--- from Aa--- village].

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

[When] he [the KHRG researcher] heard the explosions, he went to the incident place and then took photos of the incident place, verifying the information in this report. One of the victims and the schoolteachers who witnessed the incident, Naw N---, provided the information to the researcher.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On January 30th 2024, SAC [State Administration Council] soldiers fired two mortar shells into Aa--- village, Pgwa Ghaw village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District. The first mortar shell [landed near a villager’s house and] injured two underage students who are from Aa--- village. The two children who were injured by the mortar shrapnel are students from Aa--- middle school (administered by the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[7]), named Saw L---, who is 14 years old, and Saw Y---, who is 16 years old.

A teacher named Naw N---, from Aa--- village, explained: “On the day the incident happened [January 30th 2024], the headmistress contacted me over the phone and told me, ‘N---, our students were injured. Please, find a car for me [to take them to the hospital for treatment].’ We did not have any cars nearby. But the teachers contacted each other [to find a car]. They [the teachers] found a car by themselves. [It] seems like this mortar shell was from K’Ma Moh [Town’s SAC army camp]. On that day [January 30th 2024], two mortar shells were fired [by the SAC soldiers]. Our students were injured by the first mortar shell.”  

• Injury of 14-year-old Saw L---

Saw L--- was severely injured on his stomach, back, and left arm. Since he had been hit by mortar shrapnel [on his stomach], his intestines were exposed, and he had to receive surgery. Then, they had to use flesh from his thigh and transfer it to his [left] arm [they carried out a skin graft]. As a result, this student’s body was [mildly] deformed [by his injuries]. 14-year-old Saw L--- explained how he was injured: “After school, I [went home, and then] was going to play football. So, I drove on a motorbike with my friend to get my gloves and socks. My friend was driving the motorbike and I rode on the back. The mortar shells landed as soon as I arrived at the place I was going to [near the headmistress’ house]. Then, I was hit by shrapnel on my stomach, hands, leg, and back. My friend was also injured on his hands and stomach. When my friend and I were hit by the shrapnel, we were knocked off of the motorbike. I cannot remember the exact time we were injured, but it was in the evening. The motorbike was also damaged.” Two villagers who live close to the incident place ran to help the boys. He continued: “Then I was taken to Aa--- hospital for treatment. After I was injured, my teachers also visited me. After the shelling, villagers were afraid, so they fled to another village. I feel upset about my injury. I wish that these kinds of incidents will not happen in my village again.”

[Aa--- hospital is run by the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)[8].] Currently [as of March 2024], the student [Saw L---] was still receiving treatment, and staying temporarily in Thailand, in Sk--- [refugee] camp where his relatives are.

• Injury of 16-year-old Saw Y---

The other student, who was driving the motorbike, Saw Y---, was injured on his left arm, and could not breathe easily when he arrived at the hospital. Because of this, he had to be given an oxygen tank to breathe [at the hospital]. For that reason, the surgeon thought that there might be shrapnel stuck in the student’s body, so he operated on the student’s body [hand] to find the shrapnel. But he did not find anything. This student was only mildly injured, so he was released from the hospital before Saw L--- was released, as Saw L--- was severely injured.

The teacher, Naw N---, added: “I was upset and fainted because my students were injured. [The day] after the shelling, we shut down the school for several days because we were afraid [mortar shelling would happen again]. Near our school, we had made makeshift bunkers to keep our students safe whenever mortar shelling or air strikes were conducted. Our school starts from KG [Kindergarten] and goes up to Grade 8. […] If they conduct air strikes and mortar shelling like this, it is not safe for both villagers and children. We need to stay alert regarding the situation”. As explained by Naw N---, after the mortar shelling, some villagers from Aa--- village fled from the village, and some villagers remained [in the village]. Villagers dug makeshift bunkers to protect themselves.

• Destruction of property by the shelling

Shortly after these two students were injured by the shrapnel, the [second] mortar shell landed in front of the house of a teacher named K---, who was assigned as the headmistress of the KECD middle school in Aa--- village. The windows, door, sofa, front roof, house shrine [Buddhist spiritual house], food wash basin, and most of the rooms in her two-floor house were hit by the mortar shell shrapnel [and damaged]. Naw K--- is the mother of two children, and her husband is working in Thailand for the family's livelihood.

A [Honda] ‘Dream 125’ motorbike, owned by a healthcare worker in Aa--- village named Naw M---, was also hit by the mortar shrapnel and damaged. Naw M--- ran back to the village as soon as she heard the sound of mortar shelling coming from K’Ma Moe [Town’s army camp]. Then the [second] mortar shell landed at the place in Aa--- village where she parked her motorbike. Her motorbike, along with its engine, were badly damaged.

Later, on February 1st 2024, [the SAC] conducted an air strike, shelled, and fired guns into nearby Ab--- village, Pgwa Ghaw village tract, Tha Htoo (Thaton) Township, Doo Tha Htoo District. Due to both the SAC’s indiscriminate shelling into Aa--- village [on January 30th 2024], which injured villagers and damaged their properties, as well as their attacks in February [in Ab--- village], almost every villager who was living in Pgwa Ghaw village tract fled to nearby villages where their relatives were staying.

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

This information is allowed to be used [by the victims and a teacher from the village who was interviewed to verify the information].

Type of Incident

[Shelling into a village.] Two underage students were injured by mortar shelling conducted by SAC [State Administration Council[2]] soldiers

Date of Incident(s)

January 30th 2024

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Aa--- village, Pgwa Ghaw village tract[3], Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District

Victim(s) Information

Name

Saw[4] L---

Saw Y---

Age

14 years old

16 years old

Gender

Boy

Boy

Ethnicity

Karen

Karen

Marital Status  

-

-

Occupation

Student

Student

Religion

Buddhist

Buddhist

Position

- [Villager]

- [Villager]

Village

Aa--- village

Aa--- village

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[5] #208

K’Ma Moh (Ka Ma Maung) Town [in Lu Thaw Township, Mu Traw (Hpapun) District]

[Unknown]

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

A KHRG researcher went to take pictures of the incident place as he had heard the explosion. [The KHRG researcher interviewed one of the victims, Saw L---, and a teacher named Naw[6] N--- from Aa--- village].

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

[When] he [the KHRG researcher] heard the explosions, he went to the incident place and then took photos of the incident place, verifying the information in this report. One of the victims and the schoolteachers who witnessed the incident, Naw N---, provided the information to the researcher.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On January 30th 2024, SAC [State Administration Council] soldiers fired two mortar shells into Aa--- village, Pgwa Ghaw village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District. The first mortar shell [landed near a villager’s house and] injured two underage students who are from Aa--- village. The two children who were injured by the mortar shrapnel are students from Aa--- middle school (administered by the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[7]), named Saw L---, who is 14 years old, and Saw Y---, who is 16 years old.

A teacher named Naw N---, from Aa--- village, explained: “On the day the incident happened [January 30th 2024], the headmistress contacted me over the phone and told me, ‘N---, our students were injured. Please, find a car for me [to take them to the hospital for treatment].’ We did not have any cars nearby. But the teachers contacted each other [to find a car]. They [the teachers] found a car by themselves. [It] seems like this mortar shell was from K’Ma Moh [Town’s SAC army camp]. On that day [January 30th 2024], two mortar shells were fired [by the SAC soldiers]. Our students were injured by the first mortar shell.”  

• Injury of 14-year-old Saw L---

Saw L--- was severely injured on his stomach, back, and left arm. Since he had been hit by mortar shrapnel [on his stomach], his intestines were exposed, and he had to receive surgery. Then, they had to use flesh from his thigh and transfer it to his [left] arm [they carried out a skin graft]. As a result, this student’s body was [mildly] deformed [by his injuries]. 14-year-old Saw L--- explained how he was injured: “After school, I [went home, and then] was going to play football. So, I drove on a motorbike with my friend to get my gloves and socks. My friend was driving the motorbike and I rode on the back. The mortar shells landed as soon as I arrived at the place I was going to [near the headmistress’ house]. Then, I was hit by shrapnel on my stomach, hands, leg, and back. My friend was also injured on his hands and stomach. When my friend and I were hit by the shrapnel, we were knocked off of the motorbike. I cannot remember the exact time we were injured, but it was in the evening. The motorbike was also damaged.” Two villagers who live close to the incident place ran to help the boys. He continued: “Then I was taken to Aa--- hospital for treatment. After I was injured, my teachers also visited me. After the shelling, villagers were afraid, so they fled to another village. I feel upset about my injury. I wish that these kinds of incidents will not happen in my village again.”

[Aa--- hospital is run by the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)[8].] Currently [as of March 2024], the student [Saw L---] was still receiving treatment, and staying temporarily in Thailand, in Sk--- [refugee] camp where his relatives are.

• Injury of 16-year-old Saw Y---

The other student, who was driving the motorbike, Saw Y---, was injured on his left arm, and could not breathe easily when he arrived at the hospital. Because of this, he had to be given an oxygen tank to breathe [at the hospital]. For that reason, the surgeon thought that there might be shrapnel stuck in the student’s body, so he operated on the student’s body [hand] to find the shrapnel. But he did not find anything. This student was only mildly injured, so he was released from the hospital before Saw L--- was released, as Saw L--- was severely injured.

The teacher, Naw N---, added: “I was upset and fainted because my students were injured. [The day] after the shelling, we shut down the school for several days because we were afraid [mortar shelling would happen again]. Near our school, we had made makeshift bunkers to keep our students safe whenever mortar shelling or air strikes were conducted. Our school starts from KG [Kindergarten] and goes up to Grade 8. […] If they conduct air strikes and mortar shelling like this, it is not safe for both villagers and children. We need to stay alert regarding the situation”. As explained by Naw N---, after the mortar shelling, some villagers from Aa--- village fled from the village, and some villagers remained [in the village]. Villagers dug makeshift bunkers to protect themselves.

• Destruction of property by the shelling

Shortly after these two students were injured by the shrapnel, the [second] mortar shell landed in front of the house of a teacher named K---, who was assigned as the headmistress of the KECD middle school in Aa--- village. The windows, door, sofa, front roof, house shrine [Buddhist spiritual house], food wash basin, and most of the rooms in her two-floor house were hit by the mortar shell shrapnel [and damaged]. Naw K--- is the mother of two children, and her husband is working in Thailand for the family's livelihood.

A [Honda] ‘Dream 125’ motorbike, owned by a healthcare worker in Aa--- village named Naw M---, was also hit by the mortar shrapnel and damaged. Naw M--- ran back to the village as soon as she heard the sound of mortar shelling coming from K’Ma Moe [Town’s army camp]. Then the [second] mortar shell landed at the place in Aa--- village where she parked her motorbike. Her motorbike, along with its engine, were badly damaged.

Later, on February 1st 2024, [the SAC] conducted an air strike, shelled, and fired guns into nearby Ab--- village, Pgwa Ghaw village tract, Tha Htoo (Thaton) Township, Doo Tha Htoo District. Due to both the SAC’s indiscriminate shelling into Aa--- village [on January 30th 2024], which injured villagers and damaged their properties, as well as their attacks in February [in Ab--- village], almost every villager who was living in Pgwa Ghaw village tract fled to nearby villages where their relatives were staying.

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

This information is allowed to be used [by the victims and a teacher from the village who was interviewed to verify the information].