Type of Incident

[Shelling.] SAC [State Administration Council[2], also known as the Burma Army[3]]  shelling, injuring a villager, destroying a house, and damaging others.

Date of Incident(s)

29 March 2026

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Aa--- village, Th’Lweh Htaw village tract,[4] Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District.

Victim Information

Name

Saw[5] A---

Age

19 years old

Gender

Man

Ethnicity

Karen

Marital Status  

Single

Occupation

Farmer

Religion

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Village

Aa--- village, Th’Lweh Htaw village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

[Burma Army] LIB [Light Infantry Battalion][6] #230

Hlaing Wa army camp [near Kaw T’Ree Town, Dooplaya District]

Unknown

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

I [a KHRG researcher] know of this issue from talking about the Burma Army’s shelling with an administrative staff member of the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)[7] from Kruh Tuh Township. [The researcher went to the incident site, conducted interviews with the victim and the victim’s grandfather, and took photos of the injury.]

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

[The researcher] conducted interviews with the victim, Saw A---, and his grandfather.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

Aa--- village, Th’Lweh Htaw village tract, Kruh Tuh (Kyonedoe) Township, Dooplaya District is under KNU [Karen National Union][8] control. The SAC [State Administration Council] had not been able to control this area from the [2021] coup[9] until 2026. Even though the SAC soldiers could not reach this area, the soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #230 fired 120 mm mortar shells into the village [often]. On 29 March 2026, at around 3-4 pm, the SAC fired two 120 mm mortar shells into Aa--- village, injuring a villager named Saw A--- (19 years old), destroying his house, and burning all of the clothes and kitchen materials inside the house. As his house was on fire, the neighbour tried to help by pouring water on the house to extinguish the fire. As the shelling landed very close to Saw A---, he could not hear [well] for three days. During the shelling, there were no armed groups present in the village, and no fighting occurred in the area. After he was injured, township health workers [from the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)] transported him to Ab--- clinic, Wa Ka village tract, Kruh Tuh Township. [Ab--- clinic is administered by the KDHW and Saw A--- did not need to pay any treatment fees.]

Saw A--- [later] explained to KHRG that he and his father were building their new house [during the incident]. They were working on the rooftop of the house when the first shell landed in the middle of the village and damaged a house [of another villager]. When Saw A--- and his father heard the sound of the shelling, they came down from the rooftop and ran back to their old house. When they were on their way and about to reach their old house, another shell landed only ten yards away from them. The shrapnel from the explosion injured Saw A---’s face and thigh, [caused his old house to catch on fire which] destroyed his house, and also damaged his grandmother’s house and his uncle’s house.

As Saw A---’s house was burned, he and his family had to stay at his grandmother’s house temporarily. After this incident, the villagers became afraid and fled to the monastery in the village, where they slept at night.

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

The information can be used. International stakeholders should advocate to the SAC to stop shelling villages. [The victim and his grandfather permitted KHRG to use the information.]