Part 1 – Incident Details
Type of Incident |
Landmine explosion |
Date of Incident(s) |
December 7th 2023 |
Incident Location (Village, Township and District) |
Kyeikdon Town (Section 1), Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District. |
Victim Information | |
Name |
Maung[2] A--- |
Age |
21 years old |
Gender |
Man |
Ethnicity |
Mon[3] |
Marital Status |
Single |
Occupation |
Daily labourer |
Religion |
Buddhist |
Position |
Villager |
Village |
Kyeikdon Town |
Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors) |
||||
Name(s) |
Rank |
Unit |
Base |
Commander’s Name |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Infantry Battalion (IB)[4] #558 |
Near Kyeikdon Town |
Unknown |
Part 2 - Information Quality
1. Explain in detail how this information was collected. |
A KHRG researcher conducted an in-person interview with the victim’s mother in B--- village, Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District [, where the family fled to]. |
2. Explain how the source verified this information. |
The information was provided by the victim’s mother. |
Part 3 – Complete Description of the Incident
Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. |
Since November 2023, many villagers from Kyeikdon Town, Kaw T’Ree Township, Dooplaya District, have been displaced, as the State Administration Council (SAC)[5] Infantry Battalion (IB) #558, based near Kyeikdon Town, had been conducting indiscriminate shelling with artillery weapons into Kyeikdon Town. [Some fled to surrounding areas of the town, others to a site for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and others to their relatives’ places]. However, some villagers occasionally returned to the town to check on their livestock, such as chickens and pigs.
On December 7th 2023, Maung A---, a villager from Kyeikdon Town, returned to his town, from where he was displaced in a nearby area, to check his home with a friend. When they reached Kyeikdon Town, they took a path that SAC [IB #558] soldiers had marked [with a fence] forbidding villagers to use it. [While walking on the road,] Maung A--- stepped on a landmine which was planted on the road near villagers’ houses.
The road was blocked with a bamboo [fence] as a sign not to cross it. Local villagers had seen SAC soldiers [from IB #558] placing bamboo to block the road. The road is located inside the town and it leads to the SAC [IB #558] army camp based near the town. However, [villagers did not know the reason why the SAC blocked the road with bamboo, and] the SAC did not provide any alert to villagers regarding landmines planted [in the road] in advance.
Maung A---’s left leg was injured and his right leg had to be amputated at the hospital from foot to shin [because it was blown off by the landmine explosion]. Maung A--- was [first] taken to a clinic in B--- village, in Htaw Wah Law village tract, Kaw T’Ree Township, by local [Karen National Union (KNU)[6]] authorities and, the clinic [later] referred the patient to U--- Hospital, located in the Thai side of the border. [The family did not have to pay for the medical cost themselves, as they received humanitarian support.] [As of February 2024,] Maung A--- still has [follow-up] appointments at U--- Hospital because his [amputated leg’s] wound has not fully healed yet. An artificial leg will be provided to him for free once the wound is fully recovered, as explained by one staff from U--- Hospital to Maung A---’s mother. [The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will cover the cost of the prosthetic leg.] Following the landmine incident, Maung A--- and his family members moved to B--- village, in Htaw Wah Law village tract, located at the border [with Thailand, from where they were displaced at the surrounding area of Kyeikdon Town]. Kyeikdon villagers and local leaders believe the landmine was planted by SAC IB #558 while the villagers were away from their homes because IB #558 was the only army [battalion] based in the camp near Kyeikdon Town. Moreover, it [IB #558] is the only army which patrolled the area. |
Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details
Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. |
The victim and his family gave permission to use this information. |
Further background reading on the situation on landmines in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports: