Fri, 27 Feb 2026
Taw Oo District Situation Update: Burma Army indiscriminate shelling and burning, casualties, displacement, challenges in education and healthcare, and natural disasters in Daw Hpah Hkoh Township (June to August 2025)
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This Situation Update describes events occurring in Daw Hpah Hkoh (Thandaunggyi) Township, Taw Oo (Toungoo) District, during the period between June and August 2025. On June 15th 2025, the Burma Army fired shells indiscriminately, and one of the shells landed inside Aa--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract, killing a four-year-old villager and injuring two other villagers. The shelling also damaged a house and a plantation. Later that day, the Burma Army soldiers burned down a house located in Ab--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract. On June 17th 2025, Burma Army soldiers from Infantry Battalion (IB) #29 and #39 entered Ad--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract, and burned a house, a shop, and a church. On June 26th 2026, Burma Army soldiers looted villagers’ money and phones, and burned down a church in Ae--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract. Afterwards, one of the soldiers called a villager from one of the phones and made him walk with them to the village’s entrance gate. As soon as they left the village, the soldiers were attacked by Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and People’s Defense Force (PDF) troops. The soldiers then again entered into Ae--- village and burned three villagers’ houses. On July 5th 2025, Burma Army troops burned down 39 houses in Ag--- village, Way Htoo village tract, as well as two motorbikes. As a result of the house burning, villagers from Ag--- fled. On August 5th 2025, heavy rain led to landslides and flooding in Day Loh Mu Nu and Day Loh Mu Htaw village tracts, killing 12 villagers, destroying bridges, and causing difficulties for villagers to travel. On August 18th 2025, shelling conducted by Burma Army soldiers into Ac--- village, The Kleh Toh Doh village tract, damaged two houses and a school, and caused fear among villagers, who temporarily closed schools. Students in Aq--- village, Day Law Mu Nu Lar village tract, were studying in houses as the school building was damaged by the earthquake in March. Rural roads in the township were not in good condition, and main roads were militarised; thus, it became an obstacle for students to travel to school, and it caused difficulties for villagers to access healthcare and basic provisions.[1]

 

 

From June to August 2025, human rights violations were conducted [by the Burma Army [2] in Way Htoh village tract[3], P’Shaw Loh village tract, The Kleh Toh Doh village tract, Day Loh Mu Nu village tract, Day Loh Mu Htaw village tract, K’Lay Loh Mu Nu Lar village tract, and K’Lay Loh Mu Htaw village tract, in Daw Hpah Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District. This Situation Update describes incidents that include shelling, house burning, displacement, natural disasters, death and injury of villagers, and challenges in education and healthcare. These human rights violations happened [between June and August 2025] and were much worse [in frequency] than [those that took place during] March, April, and May 2025.

June 2025: Burma Army’s indiscriminate shelling, house burning, and destruction in P’Shaw Loh village tract:

  • June 15th 2025: Burma Army shelling caused three casualties in Ab--- village:

On June 15th 2025, at around 10:30 am, the KNLA [Karen National Liberation Army[4]] Battalion #5, in Brigade #2, ambushed a military truck transporting food for Burma Army troops, which was returning from Leik Tho Town, where the Burma Army’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[5] #603 is based. The ambush took place on a road between Aa--- village and Ab--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract, Daw Hpah Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District. Later, the KNLA Battalion #5 retreated.

After the fighting, the Burma Army’s LIB #603 fired three 120mm mortar shells. One of the shells landed inside Ab--- village, killing a villager named Saw[6] A--- (four years old) and injuring his father, Saw B--- (30 years old), on the right side of his chest, as well as Naw[7] C--- (six years old), on her buttocks. The injury of Naw C--- was not severe, thus she [recovered quickly and] was able to play the following day. [She received treatment at her home from her parents.][8]

Saw B--- underwent surgery at the Toungoo public hospital [administered by the Burma military regime] after his son’s funeral [and was hospitalised there for five days]. [Saw B--- had to pay for his treatment, but it is unknown to KHRG how much he paid.] In addition, the shell that landed in the village also damaged the house and plantations of a villager named Naw D---. [The two other shells landed outside of the village and caused no damage to the villagers’ properties.]

  • June 17th 2025: House burning in Ad--- village:                                                         

On June 17th 2025, KNLA Battalion #5, in Brigade #2, and the People’s Defence Force (PDF)[9] attacked a Burma Army military supply truck, which was heading to Leik Tho [Town], between Aa--- village and Ab--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract. After the attack, fighting [between the Burma Army and the combined resistance forces] happened. Then, in the evening, the Burma Army’s Infantry Battalion (IB)[10] #29, combined with IB #39, entered Ad--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract, and burned one house, one shop, and a Roman Catholic church that was not being used anymore.

  • June 26th 2025: House burning, destruction, and use of human shields in Ae--- village:

On June 26th 2025, at 11:18 am, KNLA Battalion #5, from Brigade #2, combined with PDF troops, ambushed around 70 Burma Army soldiers who were conducting a military operation outside of Ae--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract. After the fighting [between the groups], the Burma Army soldiers entered Ae--- village. Then, [the Burma Army soldiers] ransacked villagers’ houses and looted villagers’ belongings [while villagers fled the village]. The Burma Army soldiers looted 210,000 kyats [100 USD][11] and three phones from the house of a villager named Daw[12] E---. In addition, the soldiers also entered a church [located in Ae--- village] and turned a cupboard in the church inside out.

Afterward, [one of] the Burma Army soldiers phoned [from one of the phones looted earlier] a villager named U[13] F--- [and ordered him] to meet [with them]. Later, the soldiers asked him to walk with them to the village’s entrance [so they could return to their camp]. U F--- was released when they reached the village’s entrance. [As soon as the Burma Army exited the village, the KNLA’s] Battalion #5 combined with PDF troops attacked the Burma Army soldiers by throwing more than 10 grenades at them. Later, the Burma Army [unknown battalion and unit] conducted indiscriminate shelling and fired guns into Ae--- village.

Moreover, the Burma Army soldiers once again intruded into Ae--- village [at around 3 pm] and burned down three villagers’ houses. The owners of these three houses were U F---, U G---, and Saw H---. The house of U F--- was burned down completely, including the living room, fridge, clothes, cookware, and tableware [that were inside the house]. Rice from his rice storage place (inside his house) was also burned. The house of U G--- was completely burned [as well], and everything inside the house was reduced to ashes. The house of Saw H--- was burned down completely, including 40 rubber sheets [processed latex], and 100 charcoal sacks [stored near the house].

When the fighting was happening between the armed groups, villagers from Ae--- and Af--- villages, P’Shaw Loh village tract, displaced themselves to a safer place. No villager was injured or killed due to this fighting. However, following the fighting, villagers worried about [their safety while] living in the village. By August 2025, villagers from Ae--- village had returned to the village.

July 2025: House burning and displacement in Way Htoo village tract:

Similarly, on July 5th 2025, in the morning, the PDF Battalion #3504 skirmished with Burma Army soldiers, who were travelling to Ag--- village, Way Htoo village tract. After the attack, the PDF withdrew [themselves from the fighting]. Later, the Burma Army soldiers entered Ag--- village and burned 39 houses out of the 43 houses in the village, as well as two motorbikes. Only four houses remained unburned [in the village].[14]

Following the incident, villagers had to flee to a displacement area [in the forest around their village]. Until today [as of January 2026], [some of] the villagers are still living at this displacement site [while some travel back to the village to check on their properties and houses]. As villagers lost their houses and were afraid to return to their village, they built small huts and makeshift shelters on their plantations and in the forest. The displaced villagers received rice and old clothes from other villagers [from other villages in Way Htoo village tract]. However, these support items were not sufficient for the displaced villagers. Children in displaced areas did not go to school [the school in the village had been closed after the 2021 coup]. Elderly people and young children got seasonal flu at the displacement site as well.

From June to August 2025, displaced villagers staying at the displacement site Ak---, near Ah--- village, P’Shaw Loh village tract, received aid distributed by the KNU [Karen National Union[15]], including rice, oil, and tarpaulins. The Thandaung Women’s Group, an organisation that operates under the KNU, also distributed clothes at the displacement site near Ah--- village, Way Htoo village tract. 

August 2025: Natural disasters caused deaths and destruction in Daw Hpah Hkoh Township:

On August 5th 2025, heavy rain fell at night and destroyed villagers’ plantations that included cardamom, coffee, and betel nut plants from four village tracts:

  • K’Lay Loh Mu Nu village tract,
  • K’Lay Loh Mu Htaw village tract,
  • Day Loh Mu Htaw village tract,
  • Day Loh Mu Nuh Hta village tract.

In Day Loh Mu Nu and Day Loh Mu Htaw village tracts, 12 villagers died [on the night of August 5th 2025, including two children] due to landslides and the strong current of mountain rivers. The villagers were:

  • Saw I--- (80 years old),
  • Saw J--- (37 years old),
  • Naw K--- (9 years old),
  • Saw L--- (4 years old),
  • Saw M--- (36 years old),
  • Saw N--- (27 years old),
  • Saw O--- (61 years old),
  • Saw P--- (74 years old),
  • Saw Q--- (74 years old),
  • Saw R--- (70 years old),
  • Naw S--- (70 years old), and
  • Saw T--- (unknown age).

Villagers repaired damaged roads and rope and brick-built bridges using their own funds. Damaged bridges were repaired using wood. It became easier for villagers to use motorbikes to travel [again] to Baw K’Li and Thandaunggyi towns to purchase goods [after all bridges and roads had been repaired] by August 20th 2025.

August 2025: Burma Army shelling in The Kleh Toh Doh village tract:

On August 18th 2025, two 60 mm shells were fired. One of the shells landed and exploded inside Ac--- village, The Kleh Toh Doh village tract, Daw Hpah Hkoh Township, destroying two wooden houses and one KECD [Karen Education and Cultural Department[16]] school. Following the incident, villagers felt afraid, and the school was forced to close temporarily. Another shell landed outside the village and did not cause any damage. Villagers believed that the two shells were fired by the Burma Army [based] in [The Kleh Toh Doe Kah army camp, near Ac--- village] The Kleh Toh Doh village tract.

Education challenges in Day Loh Mu Nu village tract (June to August 2025):                                                                                        

At that moment, the education was doing okay. [The schools were open despite challenges.] I [the KHRG researcher] did not know how many schools there were in the four areas. However, schools near Day Loh Mu Nu village tract were not at their best [as they do not have enough textbooks and schools’ stationary].

[For example,] in Aq--- village, Day Loh Mu Nu village tract, the school was not good. Due to the [March 2025] earthquake, the school’s walls were cracked and were almost on the verge of collapse, so students studied at houses [instead of in the school building]. [The school was then destroyed by a landslide in August due to the pre-existing structural damage.] The villagers were trying to repair the school [after the landslide]. The villagers were [also] waiting for an organisation to provide support for them to repair the school [as the damage was extensive]. The villagers had not received any support from anyone [any organisation] yet. Therefore, students and teachers continued to study in houses.

In addition, due to the unstable political situation [ongoing armed conflict], some students did not dare to go to school. Some schools endured difficulties due to not having a good road or good transportation; they encountered a lack of school stationery, and school stationery was hard to deliver to them. [These difficulties came as a result of both the natural disasters and the ongoing armed conflict, which created supply chain issues and instability.]

Healthcare challenges in Daw Hpah Hkoh Township (June to August 2025):

There were strengths and challenges in the healthcare sphere. The four areas [Day Loh Mu Nu, Day Loh Mu Htaw, K’Lay Loh Mu Nu, and K’Lay Loh Mu Htaw village tracts in Daw Hpah Hkoh Township] are located in mountain areas. Thus, the roads were not in good condition for transportation. Therefore, when villagers got sick, they went to a KDHW [Karen Department of Health and Welfare [17]] clinic for treatment, Ar--- clinic, located in Klay Loh Mu Nu village tract. [Medical treatment there is available at no cost to villagers.] Patients from K’Lay Loh Mu Nu village tract and K’Lay Loh Mu Htaw village tract were referred to Ar--- clinic. Villagers delivered patients by physically carrying them [often with hammocks on foot] to the clinic for treatments. However, the KDHW clinic did not have sufficient medical equipment.

So, the [KDHW-administered] clinic referred patients in critical condition to the town hospital. Patients from Day Loh Mu Nu village tract were referred to As--- public hospital, in Thandaungyi Town. [The Ah--- public hospital is run by the Burma military regime, and charges patients for treatment.]

Conflict-related travelling difficulties:

A lot of news and rumours about the political situation spread widely [during the reporting period], including that SAC [State Administration Council[18]; Burma Army] soldiers were doing military operation activities and traveling into the four village tracts, causing villagers to fear going out of the village.

In July, the KNLA closed a highway road that links Toungoo and Thandaungyi towns for a bit [for a week]. Later, the SAC [Burma Army] continued to close the road [for two more weeks]. The road is used for transportation and purchasing food and goods. Due to the [prolonged] closure by the SAC [Burma Army], there were ration shortages for the villagers. In August, there was no intense fighting [along this section of the highway road].

 

 

 

 

Further background reading on the situation in Taw Oo District, in Southeast Burma/Myanmar, can be found in the following KHRG reports:

 

Fri, 27 Feb 2026

Footnotes: 

[1] The present document is based on information received in June to September 2025. It was provided by community members in Taw Oo District who have 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. This document combines several received reports with the following KHRG internal log numbers: #25-247-D1, #25-287-D1, #25-297-D1, #25-301-D1, #25-256-I1, #25-317-D1, 25-317-S1 and #25-318-S1.

[2] The terms Burma military regime, Burma Army, junta, and SAC are used interchangeably throughout this report to describe Burma’s armed forces. Villagers themselves commonly use Burma Army, Burmese soldiers, or alternatively the name adopted by the Burma military regime at the time –from the 2021 coup to July 2025, the State Administration Council (SAC). On July 31st 2025, the military junta changed its name to State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC).

[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] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed (KNLA) wing of the Karen National Union (KNU).

[5] 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.

[6] ‘Saw’ is a S’gaw Karen male honorific title used before a person’s name.

[7] ‘Naw’ is a S’gaw Karen female honorific title used before a person’s name.

[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] An Infantry Battalion (IB) comprises 500 soldiers. However, most Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are understrength 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 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). They are primarily used for garrison duty but are sometimes used in offensive operations.

[11] All conversion estimates for the kyat are based on the February 13th 2026 mid-market exchange rate of 1,000 kyat to USD 0.48 (taken from wise.com/gb/currency-converter/mmk-to-usd-rate ).

[12] ‘Daw’ is a Burmese female honorific title used before a person’s name.

[13] ‘U’ is a Burmese title used for elder men, used before their name.

[15] 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.

[16] The Karen Education and Culture Department is the education department of the Karen National Union. Its main goals are to provide mother tongue education services to rural Karen populations in Southeast Myanmar, as well as to preserve the Karen language, culture and history. Despite being an important education provider in the region, it is not officially recognised by the Myanmar government.

[17] The Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) is the health department of the Karen National Union. It was established in 1956 to address the lack of public healthcare resources in rural Southeast Myanmar. It currently operates a network of community based clinics in the region, but its capabilities remain limited due to funding constraints.

[18] The State Administration Council (SAC) was the name of the executive governing body of the Burma military regime 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 was composed of eight military officers and eight civilians. The chairperson serves as the de facto head of government of Burma/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. The military junta changed its name on July 31st 2025 from SAC to State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC), with Min Aung Hlaing retaining his position as chairperson.

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Type:
Situation Updates
Issue: Displacement, Food shortage, IDPs, Natural environment issues, Village life and livelihood, Violations of children's rights
Location:
Toungoo (Taw Oo) District
Year:
2025

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Taw Oo District Situation Update: Burma Army indiscriminate shelling and burning, casualties, displacement, challenges in education and healthcare, and natural disasters in Daw Hpah Hkoh Township (June to August 2025)