Type of Incident

Indiscriminate shelling by the SAC [State Administration Council[2]]  killed a villager

Date of Incident(s)

October 18th 2024

Incident Location

(Village, Village tract, Township and District)

A--- village, Myauk Kya Inn village tract[3], Kruh Tuh (Kyonedoe) Township, Dooplaya District.

Victim Information

Name

U[4] D---

Age

71 years old

Gender

Man

Ethnicity

Mon

Marital Status  

Married

Occupation

Cow herder

Religion

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Village

A--- village

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

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

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

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.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

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.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

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.

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

The victim’s wife, Daw C---, and the village head [of A--- village] allowed KHRG to use the information.