Type of Incident

[Landmine explosion.] Two villagers stepped on two landmines [planted by an unknown armed group].

Date of Incident(s)

April 8th 2025

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Ca--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District.

Victim(s) Information

Name

Maung[2] P---

Maung R---

Age

17 years old

22 years old

Gender

Boy

Man

Ethnicity

Dawei

Dawei

Marital Status  

Single

Single

Occupation

Plantation worker

Plantation worker

Religion

Buddhist

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Villager

Village

 Ca--- village

Ca--- village

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

A KHRG researcher heard about this incident from a Ca--- villager named Ko[3] L---, who transported the victims to the hospital.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

This information is verified because the villager [Ko L---] who provided the information to the researcher is from the same village as the victims. He witnessed the incident when it happened and transported the victims to the hospital. Also, he stayed at the hospital with the victims and looked after them.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On April 8th 2025, two siblings from Ca--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, named Maung P--- (17 years old) and Maung R--- (22 years old), were going to their [family’s] farm to collect cashew nuts. They arrived at their farm at around 11 am and [started] collecting cashew nuts. At 11:10 am, Maung R--- stepped on a landmine [at the farm]. He lost his left leg [on the spot] due to the explosion.

After Maung R--- stepped on the landmine, his younger brother, Maung P---, went to him and took off his shirt to tie [Maung R---’s] leg [and stop the bleeding]. Then, he [Maung P---] lifted his older brother and prepared to return to their house. After only a few steps from the incident place, he [Maung P---] also stepped on a landmine while carrying his brother. As a result of the explosion, Maung P--- [ultimately] lost his right leg [, as it had to be amputated at the hospital].

When villagers heard the sound of the landmine explosions, they went to check what had happened. They then saw the two brothers crawling on the road [near the farm], so they put them in a car and transported them to a hospital in Dawei Town [administered by the State Administration Council (SAC)[4]]. Ca--- village is located near the [Burma Army[5]’s] Kyauk Mel Taung army camp, which is [also] located in the vicinity of Rv--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township. It only takes 10 minutes [to travel] from Ca--- village to Kyauk Mel Taung army camp by motorbike. 

Since the two villagers stepped on the landmines at their plantation, other villagers felt anxious and were not confident enough to go to work at the farms or plantations. Villagers in the area were not sure which armed group planted the landmines, because both Burma Army soldiers and KNLA [Karen National Liberation Army[6]] Battalion #10 are active in the area. Fighting had previously happened between Burma Army soldiers and armed resistance groups nearby the village on an unknown date.

The two villagers who were injured by the landmines have not received any support yet [as of November 2025]. The treatment cost was approximately 8,000,000 Kyat (USD 3,809.52)[7], so they need support [to pay] for it. As these two brothers are also breadwinners for their family, the family faced livelihood challenges due to the incident. They now have to walk with crutches, as they do not have access to prosthetic legs. 

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

The villager named Ko L--- from Ca--- village, K’Moh Thway area, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, who looked after the victims, told KHRG that the victims [Maung P--- and Maung R---] allowed KHRG to use this after they were released from the hospital [June 2025].