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Print:This Short Update describes events occurring in Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District. On January 10th 2026, between 1 and 2 pm, a fighter jet of the Burma Army conducted an air strike, dropping two bombs, and fired bullets from an Oerlikon on Aa--- village, K’Maw Thway village tract, killing a two-year-old girl and injuring nine villagers, including seven women, a man, and a two-year-old girl. In addition, the air strike damaged a clinic, villagers’ plantation fields, and buildings located in a KNU office compound. The injured villagers received treatment from Karen Department of Health Welfare (KDHW) health care workers at the office compound. Following the air strike, villagers fled from Aa--- village.[1]
Air strike in Ler Doh Soe Township:
On January 10th 2026, in the afternoon between 1 and 2 pm, an SAC [Burma Army[2]] aircraft from Bleik (Myeik) Town, Ler Muh Lah Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, conducted an air strike on Aa--- (also known as Ab---) village, K’Maw Thway village tract[3], Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District. The aircraft came from the eastern side [of Aa--- village], then conducted an air strike and flew away to the western side [of the village]. The colour of the aircraft, a fighter jet, was sky-blue. The aircraft dropped two 250-pound bombs and fired [bullets] from an Oerlikon [mounted cannon from an aircraft] [at the same time.]
The bombs landed inside the compound of a Karen National Union (KNU)[4]’s township office in Aa--- village. [Villagers who were waiting for their personal legal cases to proceed were staying in the KNU office compound]. The two bombs landed only four to five arm spans [7 to 9 metres] away from each other. The air strike killed a girl and injured [nine others:] seven women, a man, and a girl.
The name of the girl who was killed was Naw[5] A---. She sustained an injury to her right shoulder and then died, inside [a house in] the KNU office compound. She was two years old. [The distance between the explosion location and the building, in the compound, was three arm spans (5 metres) away. Naw A--- and her mother were being supported by the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO)[6] to process a legal case at the KNU office. Specific details about the legal case have been censored for the villagers’ security.]
The name of the other girl, who sustained an injury to her temple, is Ma[7] B---. She was also in the KNU township office compound at the time of the incident. She is also two years old. She is the daughter of a KWO member from Ler Doh Soe Township.
The other seven women and the man who sustained injuries were civil servants under the SAC [Burma Army] military regime. They participated in the 2025 [junta’s] election[8] [during phase 1, on 28th December 2025] at Ab--- Town, Ler Doh Soe Township. They supported the election [unspecified actions], and soldiers from Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[9] Battalion #10 arrested them. [They were detained in small houses at the KNU township office compound and could not leave the village from the end of December 2025 until January 2026.]
So, when the air strike happened, [one of the bombs landed only four to five arm spans (7 to 9 metres) away from the buildings,] they were all injured. They received treatment [from Karen Department of Health Welfare (KDHW)[10] healthcare workers] and a [local KNU township authority] leader released them, because no one felt [the village was] safe as a result of the air strike.
The [eight civil servants detained] who sustained injuries are listed below:
- Ma[11]C--- (37 years old),
- Ma D--- (50 years old),
- Ma E--- (39 years old),
- Ma F--- (52 years old),
- Ma G--- (45 years old),
- Ma H--- (27 years old),
- Ma I--- (46 years old), and
- Ko[12] J--- (33 years old).
[Further specific details of the injuries of the victims are unknown to the KHRG researcher.]
Due to the air strike, a clinic administered by the KDHW [in Aa--- village], and villagers’ plantation fields were [also] damaged. Similarly, following the air strike incident, fear grew [among villagers], thus students and teachers fled to a safer place to continue their studies. In some other villages, students were rushed to do their exams earlier than the school’s initial plan. Some villagers were too afraid to live in the [Aa---] village; thus, they moved to their other plantation fields, which are located further away from the village.
Further background reading on the situation on air strikes in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:
- ကဘီယူၤဟဲလံ Aircraft coming! : Impacts of air strikes on local communities and villagers’ protection strategies in Southeast Burma since the 2021 coup, November 2024.
- “Mergui-Tavoy District Incident Report: SAC air strikes injured two children in Ler K’Saw Township (March 2025)”, January 2026.
- “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: SAC air strike caused casualties, including a child, and destruction in Moo Township (April 2025)”, December 2025.
KHRG received these photos in January 2026 from a villager in Aa--- village, K’Maw Thway village tract, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District. On January 10th 2026, between 1 and 2 pm, an aircraft of the Burma Army dropped two 250-pound bombs into Aa--- village, causing one death, injury to nine villagers, and property damage. The photo at the top is an image of the injuries sustained by two-year-old Ma B--- due to the air strike. The photo at the bottom shows the body of Naw A---, who was injured on her right shoulder and died due to the air strike. [Photos: Local villager]
These four photos were taken by a KHRG researcher in January 2026 at Aa--- village, K’Maw Thway village tract, Ler Doh Soe Township, Mergui-Tavoy District. On January 10th 2026, between 1 to 2 pm, a Burma Army aircraft dropped two 250-pound bombs onto Aa--- village, damaging a clinic, villagers’ plantation fields, and buildings of a KNU township office compound. A two-year-old girl was killed, and nine other people (including another child) were injured. The photo on the top left shows that glass windows of the clinic in Aa--- village shattered into pieces. The photo on the top right illustrates damaged plantations. The photos on the bottom right and left show buildings of a KNU township office compound that were hit by the air strike. [Photos: KHRG]
Footnotes:
[1] The present document is based on information received in [February 2026]. It was provided by a community member in [Mergui-Tavoy 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. This document combines several received reports with the following KHRG internal log numbers: #26-55-D1; #25-55-M1, and #25-55-P1.
[2] The terms Burma military, Burma Army, SAC, Tatmadaw, and junta are used interchangeably throughout this report to describe the Burma military regime’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 the 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 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.
[5] ‘Naw’ is a S’gaw Karen female honorific title used before a person’s name.
[6] The Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO) is a Karen community-based organisation formed in 1949 to support women in its operational areas across locally-defined Karen State and in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. KWO works to empower women, fights against all forms of oppression of women and children, and provides support for communities in their operational areas. The organisation promotes women’s leadership, gender sensitivity, and runs health and education programs.
[7] ‘Ma’ is a Burmese female honorific title used before a person’s name.
[8] The non-democratic elections held by the Burma military regime in 2025-2026 have been largely condemned by various international stakeholders, including ASEAN and high-ranking UN officials, as not legitimate. The junta’s election was split into three phases, making polling stations subsequently available in different regions: phase 1 took place on December 28th 2025; phase 2 took place on January 11th 2026; and phase 3 took place on January 25th 2026. The military junta backs the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which serves as their political proxy. The junta was formerly self-designated as the State Administrative Council (SAC), after the February 1st 2021 military coup headed by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, which deposed the democratically elected government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), following Burma’s 2020 general elections.
[9] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.
[10] 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.
[11] ‘Ma’ is a Burmese female honorific title used before a person’s name.
[12] Ko is a Burmese title meaning older brother. It can be used for relatives as well as non-relatives.
