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Print:This Incident Report describes an event that occurred in Kruh Tuh (Kyonedoe) Township, Dooplaya District, in October 2024. At the end of 2023, fighting happened between the State Administration Council (SAC) and combined armed forces of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Since then, the SAC has been conducting shelling into villages in Taung Kya Inn and Myauk Kya Inn village tracts, causing villagers to flee. Some villagers did not return to their homes due to the continuous shelling, while other villagers remained in the village to take care of their plantations and livestock, despite the constant danger. On October 18th 2024, at 12 pm, the SAC fired mortar shells into A--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract. One of the shells hit a 71-year-old man while he was herding his cows on his family’s farm. The villager was killed instantly.[1]
Part 1 – Incident Details
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Type of Incident |
Indiscriminate shelling by the SAC [State Administration Council[2]] killed a villager |
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Date of Incident(s) |
October 18th 2024 |
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Incident Location (Village, Village tract, Township and District) |
A--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract[3], Kruh Tuh (Kyonedoe) Township, Dooplaya District. |
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Victim Information |
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Name |
U[4] D--- |
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Age |
71 years old |
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Gender |
Man |
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Ethnicity |
Mon |
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Marital Status |
Married |
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Occupation |
Cow herder |
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Religion |
Buddhist |
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Position |
Villager |
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Village |
A--- village |
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Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors) |
||||
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Name(s) |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander’s Name |
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Unknown |
- |
SAC Artillery Unit #545, under MOC [Military Operation Command[5]] #12 |
Laing Wah army camp, [near Kaw T’Ree Town,] Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. |
Unknown |
Part 2 - Information Quality
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1. Explain in detail how this information was collected. |
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A KHRG field researcher first found out about the incident from a Facebook post of a local media group [Kru Tuh Township media group, under the Karen National Union (KNU)[6]]. Later, the researcher reached out to the second head of the KNU media group in Kruh Tuh Township, named Naw[7] B---, to verify the information. Lastly, the researcher interviewed the victim’s wife, Daw[8] C---, and a village leader from A--- village to document the details of the incident. |
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2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
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The information was verified when a KHRG researcher conducted an interview with Daw C---, the victim’s wife, and the village leader [from A--- village]. The information was also provided by the Township’s media group. |
Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident
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Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. |
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In December 2023, the People’s Defence Force (PDF)[9] and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[10] attacked and captured an SAC [State Administration Council] checkpoint located near the middle school in E--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract, and the Taung Kya Inn Bridge [in Taung Kya Inn village tract]. [The bridge is located] between E--- and A--- villages. During the attack, the SAC was unable to deploy its ground troops, thus, the SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[11] #231, under MOC [Military Operation Command] #12, based at the Asian Highway[12] in Kaw T’Ree Township, continuously fired howitzer and 120 mm shells into E--- and A--- village.[13] The SAC LIB #231 [sometimes] shelled into the two villages after the SAC soldiers left the area, until the end of 2024. Villagers have been displaced since then [as of January 2025]. Some villagers returned to the village to clean their houses [from time to time], but they did not stay there [due to the continuous shelling]. Other villagers did not flee the village due to livelihood challenges [they struggle to work daily and earn an income to support themselves while displaced], so they had to live with the fighting and bullets to take care of their plantation farms and livestock.
On October 18th 2024, around 12 pm, the SAC fired, in two sequences, a total of six 120 mm shells into A--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract, killing U D---, a 71-year-old man from A--- village, while he was herding his cattle in his nephew’s farm. When the first four 120 mm were shelled, U D--- was sleeping with his head on a mango tree stump at his nephew’s farmland. When he woke up, he saw that his cows were out of control, running in every direction. As he tried to gather the cows, he went into the field, unaware that two more shells were coming. He was hit on his waist, legs, and abdomen (injuring his intestines), and died instantly.
Daw C--- (48 years old), the wife of the victim, explained to KHRG that, due to aging, U D--- was losing his hearing and sight. He could barely hear and see. When the shells were fired for the second time, [his wife thinks that] he could not find a place to cover from the shells, so he was hit by the shrapnel. At the time, one of his nephews, who was inside his house, screamed that more shells were coming. However, [his wife thinks that] U D--- did not hear it [his nephew’s warning].
[After the shells were fired the first time,] at around 12 pm, all villagers stayed under cover for their own safety, and no one went out. Thus, no one found out about the death of U A--- [until an hour later]. At around 1 pm, a villager from A--- discovered the body of U A--- and informed his family. [On the next day, he was buried.] The family reported the case to the Kruh Tuh Township media group. The media group took pictures for documentation.
Daw C--- depended on her husband for her livelihood. After his death, she had to work on a rubber plantation and herd cattle to support her livelihood. |
Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details
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Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. |
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The victim’s wife, Daw C---, and the village head [of A--- village] allowed KHRG to use the information. |
Further background reading on the situation on shelling in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: SAC mortar shelling killed two villagers and injured three children in Moo Township (July 2024)”, March 2025.
- “Dooplaya District Situation Update: SAC shelling and fighting causing casualties, destruction, and displacement; healthcare and livelihood challenges; land confiscation; and drug issues in Noh T’Kaw and Kruh Tuh Townships (November 2023 to February 2024)”, February 2025.
- “Dooplaya District Situation Update: SAC shelling and air strikes causing 24 civilian casualties and damaging civilian property; extensive house burning and use of human shields; and a landmine explosion, in Dooplaya District (October to December 2023)”, February 2025.
- Striking Fear: Impacts of State Administration Council (SAC) shelling on villagers’ lives in Southeast Burma (January to October 2023), December 2023.
A KHRG field researcher received these photos from the second head of Kruh Tuh Township media group. The photos were taken on October 18th 2024 at A--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District. The photos display U D---’s body after he was hit by mortar shells on October 18th 2024, while he was herding his cows, at A--- village. [Photos: KNU media group]
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in November 2024. It was provided by a community member in Dooplaya District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions on the ground. The names of the victims, their photos and the exact locations are censored for security reasons. The parts in square brackets are explanations added by KHRG.
[2] The State Administration Council (SAC) is the executive governing body created in the aftermath of the February 1st 2021 military coup. It was established by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 2nd 2021, and is composed of eight military officers and eight civilians. The chairperson serves as the de facto head of government of Myanmar and leads the Military Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the government. Min Aung Hlaing assumed the role of SAC chairperson following the coup.
[3] A village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large village.
[4] ‘U’ is a Burmese title used for elder men, used before their name.
[5] Military Operations Command (MOC) is comprised of ten battalions for offensive operations. Most MOCs have three Tactical Operations Commands (TOCs) made up of three battalions each.
[6] The Karen National Union (KNU) is the main Karen political organisation. It was established in 1947 and has been in conflict with the government since 1949. The KNU wields power across large areas of Southeast Myanmar and has been calling for the creation of a democratic federal system since 1976. Although it signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015, following the 2021 coup staged by Burma Army leaders, the KNU officially stated that the NCA has become void.
[7] ‘Naw’ is a S’gaw Karen female honorific title used before a person’s name.
[8] ‘Daw’ is Burmese honorific title for female adults, a married woman or a woman of a higher social position.
[9] The People’s Defence Force (PDF) is an armed resistance established independently as local civilian militias operating across the country. Following the February 1st 2021 military coup and the ongoing brutal violence enacted by the junta, the majority of these groups began working with the National Unity Government (NUG), a body claiming to be the legitimate government of Burma/Myanmar, which then formalized the PDF on May 5th 2021 as a precursor to a federal army.
[10] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.
[11] A Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) comprises 500 soldiers. Most Light Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers, yet up-to-date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. LIBs are primarily used for offensive operations, but they are sometimes used for garrison duties.
[12] The Asian Highway Network is a United Nations Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific-supported project that aims to link 32 countries in Asia across 141,000 kilometres of roadway. In Burma/Myanmar the project has involved land confiscation and forced labour. For more information about the Asian Highway Network, see “Beautiful Words, Ugly Actions:The Asian Highway in Karen State, Burma”, KHRG, August 2016; “The Asia Highway: Planned Eindu to Kawkareik Town road construction threatens villagers’ livelihoods,” KHRG, March 2015.
[13] See also: KHRG, “Dooplaya District Short Update: SAC shelling and air strikes resulted in civilian casualties, property destruction and displacement, in Kruh Tuh Township, December 2023.”, August 2024; KHRG, “Dooplaya District Situation Update: SAC shelling and fighting causing casualties, destruction, and displacement; healthcare and livelihood challenges; land confiscation; and drug issues in Noh T’Kaw and Kruh Tuh Townships (November 2023 to February 2024).”, February 2025.
