Type of Incident

Landmine explosion

Date of Incident(s)

January 13th 2023

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

A--- village, Than Moe Taung village tract[2], Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District

Victim Information

Name

Daw[3] B---

Age

68 years old

Sex

Female

Ethnicity

Karen

Family   

Married

Occupation

Housewife

Religion

Christian

Position

Villager

Village

A--- village, Than Moe Taung village tract, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, Taw Oo District

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Unknown

Unknown

SAC from MOC 6, LIB #605

Nay Pyi Daw

Captain [removed for security reasons]

Unknown

 Unknown

SAC from MOC 6, LIB #605

Nay Pyi Daw

Major [removed for security reasons]

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

On January 17th 2023, a KHRG researcher went to the incident place to collect the information from the victim’s son.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The information provider is the son of the victim, who was involved in the process of picking up and cremating the victim’s corpse.

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 about 11:50 am on January 13th 2023, Daw B---, a villager of A--- village located in Than Moe Taung village tract, Daw Hpa Hkoh Township, stepped on a landmine on Than Moe Taung road when she was returning from collecting wood [nearby]. Her left leg was completely blown off [below the knee], and she sustained severe injuries to her right leg, her left arm and her face. Villagers heard the explosion, but did not dare to go near [the incident place because it was an area restricted by State Administration Council (SAC)[4] soldiers. The victim died before other villagers could arrive to provide help].

Around 3:30 pm [on the same day], the son of the victim, Saw[5] C--- [who was staying in a nearby plantation field], received a phone call from SAC soldiers. They notified him that one villager was injured by a landmine explosion. Saw C--- and three of his friends returned to the village from the plantation field. When they arrived to the [SAC] army camp [located in the village], the soldiers did not immediately allow them to continue on their way. [The villagers believed the SAC soldiers did so in order to check the incident area and search the victim’s corpse before the villagers arrived]. After the soldiers checked the incident area, they called the four villagers to pick up the victim’s body. It was Daw B’s--- corpse.

The four villagers believed that Daw B’s--- body’s position was modified [by SAC soldiers] at the incident location [to make her body presentable]. Daw B’s--- son, Saw C---, blamed the SAC for having planted landmines on a public road [near the village]. The SAC soldiers didn’t respond to him [and his accusation]. Saw C--- believes his mother bled to death and that she could have been saved if the SAC had notified him earlier, because her body was still warm when the villagers arrived.

[SAC soldiers from Military Operations Command (MOC)[6] 6, LIB[7] #605 later admitted to local villagers that they planted the landmine following clashes that happened in November 2022 in the area]. On November 26th 2022, fighting broke out in A--- village between SAC from A--- village and the combined forces of the People’s Defence Force (PDF)[8] and Northern Than Taung Peace Group [Aye Chan Yay A'pweh].[9] [The fighting lasted around three hours.] In addition, SAC air force camp control under Southern Command headquarters conducted air strikes into A--- village. [An unknown number of] injuries and deaths were reported due to the air strikes. [After the fighting,] villagers fled [to other places] and [local] shops were closed. [Following the clash, SAC soldiers repaired their army camp and planted more landmines in the area, including in locations further away from their camp and on villagers’ land]. Two to three days after the fighting, SAC soldiers notified villagers not to use Than Moe Taung road and restricted access to it. They informed villagers that landmines were planted [on the road]. [Although local villagers stopped using the road, the victim’s son believes that his mother might have forgotten the warning and restriction due to her advanced age].

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

The victim’s son allowed KHRG to use this information.