Type of Incident

[Landmine.] Tripwire mine incident.

Date of Incident(s)

June 8th 2025

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Bc--- (also known as Bh---) place, Bb--- village tract[2], Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District.

Victim(s) Information

Name

Saw[3] A---

Saw B---

Age

40 years old

37 years old

Gender

Man

Man

Ethnicity

Karen

Karen

Marital Status  

Married

Divorced

Occupation

Farmer

Plantation worker

Religion

Buddhist

Buddhist

Position

[Villager.]

[Villager.]

Village

Ab--- village, Be--- (also known as Cb---) village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District.

Ad--- village, Be--- (also known as Cb---) village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District.

Perpetrator Information (Armed Actors)

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

[Unknown]

[Unknown]

DKBA [Democratic Karen Buddhist Army][4] armed forces [unknown unit]

Kya Ain Paw Taw Mu monastery, Kya Gu place, Meh Ka Raw village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District.

Saw Bo Bee

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

A local leader from Be--- village tract [specific position censored for security], named Saw K---, heard the sound of the explosion. Then, he investigated that [the explosion], and learned that a villager was injured by a tripwire mine. On June 9th 2025, after learning the information, he [Saw K---] informed me [a KHRG researcher], so I [a KHRG researcher] went to Ac--- village to interview one of the victims, Saw A---, and documented the incident.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

We can confirm this incident is true because I [a KHRG researcher] conducted an interview with one of the victims [Saw A---], and there is also photographic evidence. [The researcher also talked to Naw[5] G---, the wife of Saw A---].

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On June 8th 2025, two villagers from Be--- (also known as Cb---) village tract were injured by a tripwire mine at Bc--- (also known as Bh---) place, in Bb--- village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District.

On that day, a villager named Saw A--- (also known as Saw D---), who lives in Ab--- village, Be--- village tract, went to trap fish by fishing net at Ac--- village, Be--- village tract. After trapping fish, he [Saw A---] met with his friend Saw B---, who is a resident of Ac--- village [but who is originally from Ad--- village, Be--- village tract]. Then, they decided to go to Bb--- village [Bb--- village tract]. It was almost dusk when they departed. Saw A--- drove the motorbike while Saw B--- rode on the back. They had drunk alcohol before they went to Bb--- village.

When they arrived at Bc--- place [on the way to Bb--- village], they dodged a stone in the centre of the road. The back wheel of the motorbike hit the wire of a tripwire mine, which exploded. It [the tripwire mine] was planted at the left side of [the road, based on] their direction. So, the shrapnel hit the left side of their body. [In this area, the DKBA is the only active armed group, and DKBA soldiers responded to the incident, leading the victims and the local villagers to believe that this tripwire mine was planted by the DKBA.]

Saw A---, who drove the motorbike, was slightly hit by the shrapnel on the nape of his neck. Also, two of the shrapnel [pieces] hit his [Saw A---’s] left thigh, and one of the shrapnel [pieces] hit his left lower knee [shin]’s bone and tendon. The whole left leg and back of Saw B--- was hit by the shrapnel. After the incident, they were transported to Ae--- hospital by DKBA soldiers, but they [the victims] did not receive any support for the treatment [or as compensation] from the DKBA. The Ae--- hospital is administered by the SAC [State Administration Council[6]], and it is located in Ch--- village tract, Hpa-an Township, Doo Tha Htoo District.

Saw A---, one of the villagers who was hit by the DKBA’s tripwire mine, explained to KHRG: “After the explosion, they [DKBA soldiers] came to us and when they were about to hit us with weapons [guns], we said to them that we are nothing [not related to any armed group] and we folded our hands and apologised to them. Then they interrogated us. After that, one of their leaders phoned them [the DKBA soldiers who found the villagers]. After they had a conversation on the phone, they forced us to get in a black car; the car was a Vigo or something [unspecified; pickup truck]. So, we had to ride in the back of the pickup truck. And then, they sent us to Ae--- hospital to get medical treatment.” He continued: “After that, the doctor provided surgery to take out the shrapnel in our bodies. Afterwards, I saw the doctors took out the tiny shrapnel from the back of Saw B---. Later, the cousin of Saw B---, who lives in Bm--- village [Ch--- village tract, Hpa-an Township], came to pick us up, so we slept in his house for one night. The next morning, his cousin sent us back to our houses by a three-wheeled motorbike.”

Saw A--- already [returned to his village and] recovered from the injuries which were on the nape of his neck and thigh. [He did not have to pay anything for the treatment cost because the health workers in that hospital knew him and sympathised with him]. However, Saw A--- cannot work properly as before [he was injured] because he was also injured on his lower knee [shin] [from which he has not fully recovered]. He said that sometimes he has to hang his leg [tie it up] by rope to elevate it [to remove pressure] because it [his shin] is numb and aches. [The inability to work as before has impacted his family’s livelihood.] Saw A--- is married and has two sons.

On the contrary, Saw B--- is divorced and has one daughter. His wife got remarried. After [receiving initial treatment], Saw B--- went back to Ad--- village, where his mother lives, for further treatment, so his current situation is unknown [to KHRG].

Regarding the two innocent villagers who were hit by the tripwire mine that [locals believe] DKBA armed forces planted, they [the DKBA] did not respond and did not provide anything for the cost of the medical treatment. The wife of Saw A---, named Naw G---, explained: “Until the next morning, after they were hit by the tripwire mine, the motorbike was still left at the incident place. The model of the motorbike is WAVE Fi. The whole motorbike smells of gunpowder. The motorcycle can be driven; it did not break. However, the cover of the motorcycle was hit by a few of the shrapnel [pieces].”

The DKBA armed forces, which are led by Saw Bo Bee, are supported by a monk of Kya Ain Paw Taw Mu [monastery] named U[7] Nanda Tha Ra, and they get paid and serve under the armed forces of Min Aung Hlaing[8], who was the leader of the [2021] coup [and the Burma military regime[9]]. So, they [the DKBA] do everything the SAC commands them, to prevent the KNU [Karen National Union[10]] administration and its [the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[11]’s] military operations, which are increasing. 

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

This information is allowed for use by one of the victims, Saw A---, and his wife, Naw G---, so that the international [community] will know about the increasing human rights violations conducted by the SAC (and the allied forces under their control).