Type of Incident

Injury and death from shelling

Date of Incident(s)

January 8th 2022

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

A--- village, D--- village tract[2], Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District

Victim Information

Name

Naw B---

Saw C---

Age

88

7

Sex

Female

Male

Nationality

Karen

Karen

Family   

Married

Unmarried

Occupation

Retired

Student

Religion

Buddhist

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Villager

Village

A--- village

A--- village

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

State Administration Council (SAC)[3] Military Operations Command (MOC)[4] #8, Artillery Unit

Pi Ne Taw army camp in Pi Ne Taw village, Maw Lay village tract, Tha Htoo (Thaton) Township, Doo Tha Htoo District

Unknown

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

The D--- village tract administrator, Saw E---, went to interview the injured villagers and their family members at the hospital the day after the shelling incident. Following that, the KHRG field researcher contacted the village tract administrator by phone and collected the information and photos from him. The KHRG field researcher later contacted one of the family members [the father of the 7-year-old boy] to confirm the information.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The KHRG field researcher confirmed the information provided by the D--- village tract administrator with Saw G---, the father of Saw C--- and son-in-law of Naw B---.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. For each incident, be sure to include 1) when the incident happened, 2) where it happened, 3) what happened, 4) how it happened, 5) who was involved, and 6) why it happened. Also describe any villager response(s) to the incident, the aftermath and the current living situation of the victims. Please use the space prepared below, and create an attachment if needed.

At 7:10 pm on January 8th 2022, SAC soldiers from MOC #8 at Pi Ne Taw army camp [in Pi Ne Taw village, Maw Lay village tract, Tha Htoo Township, Doo Tha Htoo District] indiscriminately fired one mortar shell into A--- village, D--- village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District. Naw B---, an 88-year-old woman living in B--- village, and her 7-year-old grandson, Saw C---, were hit by fragments of the mortar shell [that landed close to their house]. [The victims did not have enough time to reach the bunker under their house before the shell exploded]. The grandmother was hit on the lower part of her belly, and the grandson was injured on his right clavicle. The injured woman and her grandson were initially treated at their home by village healthcare workers [who cleaned their wounds and gave them pain medicine] before they were taken to Pwa Ghaw hospital (P’Lan Taung Taik Naing hospital) in Pwa Ghaw village, Ha T’Reh (Ha T’Laik) village tract, Hpa-an Township.

Before dawn on January 9th 2022, the injured villagers rented one of the A--- villagers’ cars and were driven by the car’s owner to Pwa Ghaw hospital, a 16-bed hospital [located an hour away by car from A--- village]. Naw B--- received treatment there for over a week [one week and two days] but she eventually passed away because her injury was very severe. Saw C--- was hospitalised for three days. The mortar shell fragments were removed from the grandson’s clavicle and he made a full recovery. Although SAC soldiers conducted the shelling and are the perpetrators of this incident, they have not provided any support to the victims. [The victims’ family, which relies on farm work for their livelihood, have had to bear the medical costs themselves.] The treatment for both villagers cost 470,000 kyats [USD 223.81][5], as well as 30,000 kyats [USD 14.29] for the transportation to the hospital. [As of August 2022, the family has fully paid for the medical costs.]

Due to the SAC’s constant and indiscriminate mortar shelling in A--- village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District, some local villagers have built bunkers under their houses. [According to the KHRG field researcher, there has not been any other shelling activity in A--- village since this incident.]

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

One of the victims’ family members allowed KHRG to use and publish the information he provided.