KHRG received this photo from an officer of KNU’s Kruh Tuh Township documentation group on July 14th 2025. On July 9th 2025, at 9 pm, the State Administration Council (SAC) Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #545, based in Kruh Tuh Town, fired one 120 mm shell into Ab--- village, Tha Lwen Taw village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District, which landed in Aa--- area of the village and exploded loudly. The photo shows the body of Ma A---, an ailing woman who was found dead after the explosion, believed to have been killed as a result of the blast wave from the SAC shelling explosion. [Photo: Township authority]
SAC shelling into Tha Lwen Taw village tract:
Since April 2025, fighting between the State Administration Council [SAC][2] and armed resistance groups occurred almost daily along the Asian Highway[3] road [between Kruh Tuh Town and Kaw T’Ree Town] in Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District. The SAC Light Infantry Battalion [LIB][4] #545, based in Kruh Tuh Town, conducted shellings once or twice per week, regardless of whether fighting took place.[5]
On July 9th 2025, at around 9 pm, villagers heard the sounds of the SAC firing multiple mortar shells. One 120 mm mortar shell landed in Aa--- area of Ab--- village, Tha Lwen Taw village tract[6], Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District. Shrapnel from the explosion struck and slightly damaged the fence surrounding the monastery in the village.
After the incident, an ailing woman, Ma[7] A--- (55 years old) was found dead in her bed, bleeding from her eyes, ears, and nose. After the incident, Ma A---’s youngest daughter and granddaughter went to find the village head of Ab--- village, named Saw[8] B---, that night, and informed him about the incident. Saw B--- explained to KHRG: “After she [Ma A---] returned from the monastery, she ate Mama [instant] noodles. Her daughter and granddaughter were using the phone. As for her, she wanted to sleep, so then she went to sleep. A few moments later, the shelling happened. Then, her daughter called to her: ‘Mo Mo [mother], the shelling happened’, but she could not wake her mother. Her mother [’s body] was already cold.”
A local leader [Kruh Tuh Township documentation officer[9]] [who saw the body and also documented the incident] told the village head that he believed that the shelling explosion killed the ailing woman while she was sleeping. [Ma A---’s suffered from high blood pressure.] The blast [wave] [might have] caused her heart to stop beating, and she suffered bleeding from her eyes, ears, and nose. The village head [Saw B---] believed that Ma A--- was killed by her illness [high blood pressure]. However, based on the circumstances of Ma A---’s death [including the physical indicators that the body showed when found], the Kruh Tuh Township documentation officer believes that this was a casualty resulting from the SAC shelling.
In the past, shellings had never landed in Aa--- area of Ab--- village. This was the first time that a shelling landed [there]. The shelling landed in Aa--- area, but [villagers reported that] the sound was very loud [and was heard everywhere in Ab--- village].
Displacement challenges in Ab--- village:
Due to the [ongoing] fighting [along the Asian Highway road in Kruh Tuh], some villagers from Ac--- village and Ad--- village, Yay Pu Gyi village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, and Ae--- village, Kaw Wa Leh village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, fled to Aa--- area of Ab--- village.
Among the displaced are ailing elderly people and children, who urgently need food and medical supplies [as of July 2025]. They have been displaced since April 2025 after fighting broke out near their villages. Some villagers from Aa--- area (in Ab--- village) had also fled from their homes; therefore, the abandoned houses were opened to host displaced villagers from Ad---, Ae---, and Ac--- villages. However, it is difficult for the displaced people to find jobs, as employment opportunities are not available in the area.
Further background reading on the situation of shelling in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports: