‘Nowhere is safe’ – two children among six killed as junta bombs camps sheltering civilians in Karenni

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The two sisters were sleeping when shrapnel tore through the walls of their shelter

Two children who were sisters were killed along with a man in his 50s when a junta attack helicopter bombed a camp for displaced people in Karenni State’s Hpruso Township on Tuesday morning, a volunteer there told Myanmar Now.

The camp, which is near the village of Ree Khee Bu, holds some 700 people who fled a military massacre in the village of Moso last month.

The camp volunteer said the young victims were 12-year-old Caroline, who was also known as Khine, and 15-year-old Maria Corrette, who also went by the name Chaw Su.

A 51-year-old man named Andrea who was sleeping in the same shelter as the girls also died when a barrage of shrapnel tore through the walls, the volunteer said.

“The shrapnel hit the building where the girls were sleeping… their bodies were completely ripped apart and flew everywhere,” she said. “The man was sleeping near the fireplace as he was not feeling well. He got hit as well.”

Another two bombs exploded in a different area of the camp where buildings were under construction.

“There was no battle at all but the helicopter was hovering around for a long time last night,” the volunteer said. “We went out to check but we didn’t see anything. It was very loud.”

The bomb that killed the sisters and the man exploded about 120 feet from the camp and left a five–foot-deep crater, she added.

“I know they’re ruthless but why come after harmless displaced people? They only came here because they thought it would be safer,” she said.

Between 30 and 50 people from Moso village were massacred and burned by junta soldiers on December 24.

The Moso villagers have now fled the camp in the wake of the bombings, and are in need of blankets, warm clothes, and water.

“There’s no safe place in our state anymore,” the volunteer said. “We’re planning to arrange safe places for this many displaced villagers but we don’t know who would be able to sponsor us. We’re just trying to think positively at the moment.”

On Sunday three young men who were volunteering at a camp in Nan Mel Khone, Demoso Township, were killed when junta helicopters dropped bombs at around 6pm, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force, a local armed resistance group.

Military controlled newspapers on Monday published a claim by the junta that the military used artillery and air strikes in Karenni because of the presence of “terrorists” in the area.

The junta has not commented on the airstrike in Hpruso.

Aung San Myint, second secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), whose armed wing is one of the groups fighting the junta’s forces in the state, called for foreign countries to enforce a “safe zone” in the area.

“We need to declare the area as a safe zone according to each civilian’s right to live and to the collective rights of the entire ethnicity,” he told Myanmar Now. “The international community can no longer regard what’s happening here  as a civil war. They need to intercept as soon as possible,”

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A funeral service for three people killed by a junta airstrike on Tuesday (KFBR)A funeral service for three people killed by a junta airstrike on Tuesday (KFBR)

Over 200,000 people have been displaced in recent months in southern Shan and northern Karenni states.

There has been intense fighting in and around the Karenni capital Loikaw since January 7. The junta has attacked the town with fighter jets and cut off its water and electricity supply.

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Soldiers kill and burn villagers during rampages throughout Myaing

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Some 800 junta troops in several columns are taking part in the onslaught, with local resistance groups saying they are unable to fight back

Hundreds of junta soldiers have rampaged through villages in central Myanmar’s Myaing Township in recent days, killing and burning civilians, destroying homes, and forcing thousands to flee, locals and resistance fighters have said.

The entire populations of 15 villages in the northern part of the township have been displaced by the onslaught, which began last week on Monday, a People’s Defence Force (PDF) leader who goes by the name Cross told Myanmar Now.

And there have been more raids in other areas of Myaing, with a total of roughly 800 soldiers marching in separate columns through the Magway Region township in an effort to crush resistance to the dictatorship.

Locals found the remains of three people who had been burned after soldiers raided Latyetma village on Tuesday, Cross said.

“We can’t even tell if they’re male or female; only the bones are left,” he said. “We found them near the cemetery in the west of the village.”

The soldiers detained around 200 of the villagers but released them the following day. About five of the freed detainees had been beaten, Cross said, adding that the village was now deserted.

“The displaced villagers still don’t dare to come back,” he said.

Soldiers camped in the village until Friday and robbed and ransacked houses, he added.

“Some phone shops were also robbed,” he added. “They took packs of rice and a lot of houses were destroyed.”

A Myaing-based anti-junta guerilla group called Shwe Dar Bo said on Monday that the soldiers had stolen valuables, destroyed several houses and tortured residents who had taken shelter in monasteries.

There have been several clashes between local resistance fighters and junta forces in the south and west of Myaing in recent months. Last week was the first time junta troops have entered villages in the northwestern part of the township, the PDF leader said.

Soldiers stationed themselves in the village of Linkataw for two days from January 14 and destroyed two houses there, a local told Myanmar Now. One belonged to a member of the National League for Democracy and another to a teacher taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement, the local added.

“Some people were taken as guides when the column left,” they added.

The column headed south towards the villages of Kyikan and Taw on Sunday morning. On the same day, a separate column raided Paungte village, which is close to Latyetma.

In the west of the township on Sunday morning, soldiers raided the villages of Tha Dut, Nyaungbin Lay, and Wei Taung, said Cross.

“Tha Dut village was torched–25 houses in the western part of the village were destroyed in the fire,” he said on Sunday evening. “We still don’t know what exactly happened to the villagers. They’re still torching houses in Nyaungbin Lay village. The two villages are next to each other. We can still see the smoke coming out of the villages.”

He added: “They are torching the northern part of Wei Taung village. I heard they are even trying to burn the petrol plants.”

Chaung Sone village, which has a population of nearly 700 and is located in the north of Myaing, was also torched and robbed by soldiers, he said. “The entire region is displaced. We can’t start attacking them as their reckless firing of artillery shells could hit the shelters of the displaced locals.”

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A house in Latyetma village that was ransacked (Supplied)A house in Latyetma village that was ransacked (Supplied)

Khun Chaint, a Myaing PDF officer who leads fighters in the south of the township, said the raids were aimed at flushing out PDF positions.

“They’re looking for PDF camps for the most part,” he said. “They’re firing artillery shells and abducting civilians and using them as human shields. So we can’t do much.”

Myanmar Now has been unable to gather details about casualties from the recent raids. Myaing is one of numerous townships in central and northern Myanmar where internet access was cut off last year.

The township is home to some 300 villages, and its residents have continued to stage protests against the junta almost a year after the coup and despite the military’s murderous crackdowns on expressions of defiance.

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Boy shot dead during junta raid on Mingin Township village

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The victim was killed on his 10th birthday, according to his aunt

Regime forces shot and killed a 10-year-old boy during a raid on a village in Sagaing Region’s Mingin Township on Wednesday, according to a relative of the victim.

The incident occurred after roughly 30 junta troops entered the village of Za Na Hpyin at around 5:30am and ordered residents of the boy’s home to come out, his aunt told Myanmar Now.

“He had just opened the door and stepped out of the house when they shot him in the neck. He died on the spot,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“It was his 10th birthday. His mother has been crying so much, it’s like she’s gone mad,” she added.

Bala, the boy who was shot, was the second son of Za Na Hpyin residents Kyaw Swe and Cho Pyone. After the shooting, the parents, along with a seven-year-old girl, were moved with the rest of the village’s inhabitants to a holding area, according to the aunt.

“They had to leave the body behind when they were taken to the football field with everyone else. All they could do was cry,” she said, adding that the entire village was forced to remain in the field until the troops left the next day.

According to the aunt, no photos were taken because every phone in the village was confiscated during the raid.

“There were no phones left in the village, so we couldn’t take any photos of the boy,” she said.

Myanmar Now was unable to reach the parents of the victim or other witnesses to the shooting, some of whom have since fled the village. Officers at Mingin’s central police station refused to comment when contacted.

Other residents said the group that raided the village on Wednesday included members of the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia.

Za Na Hpyin, a village of around 140 households, was previously targeted by junta forces and the Pyu Saw Htee in October, according to residents. Several motorcycles and other property were destroyed during that raid, they said.

Troops stationed in Mingin Township have been accused of multiple attacks on local residents.

In August, drunken soldiers shot and killed a man at a Chindwin River ferry port in Mingin after taunting him for not wearing a mask, according to witnesses.

The Pyu Saw Htee, which has a strong presence in the area, has also been involved in a number of other incidents, including one in July that resulted in the arrest of more than 50 members of a local People’s Defence Force (PDF) group.

PDF members say the Pyu Saw Htee used children as part of a ruse to capture the anti-regime fighters, four of whom were reportedly shot after falling into the trap.

According to residents, the Pyu Saw Htee is especially strong in two villages in the area, Panset and Taung Phyu.

 

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NUG Accuses Myanmar Junta of Committing Crimes Against Humanity

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Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) has accused the military junta of committing crimes against humanity, citing its artillery strikes and air raids on civilians.

Many civilians were killed and injured and thousands were displaced by junta attacks using jet fighters and helicopters in Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Chin and Shan states and Sagaing and Magwe regions, and junta soldiers have committed mass killings, torched houses and used civilians as human shields, the NUG statement said on Thursday.

Its attacks violate international norms, ethics and laws created to protect humanity, said the NUG.

Hospitals and pharmacies were damaged by junta bombing in areas controlled by the Karen National Union in Hpapun District, Karen State, on Jan. 12.

This followed junta air raids on Kayah State’s capital, Loikaw, which displaced thousands of civilians. In December, Lay Kay Kaw, a new town in Karen State near the Thai border, was left almost deserted after aerial attacks.

On Friday, two junta helicopters attacked Lay Kay Kaw, close to areas where displaced people are sheltering beside the Moei River on the Thai border.

Ongoing airstrikes are also causing serious destruction in Sagaing Region.

The NUG’s shadow health ministry, citing international agency reports, said the regime killed 32 health workers and detained 288 others and raided 355 health care centers, including hospitals and clinics, between Feb. 1 and Nov. 30 last year.

Medics were the first profession to take to the streets against last year’s coup and formed the civil disobedience movement to strike against military rule. The regime responded by detaining and prosecuting striking medics.

The regime is ridiculing the Geneva Convention, United Nations Security Council and domestic and international laws with its continuing violence against Myanmar’s people, said the parallel ministry, asking the international community to take action.

The NUG said it has been trying to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced and take measures to hold the regime to account under international law for its atrocities.

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Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar (January 3-9)2022

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Myanmar has a message to Cambodian leader, Hun Sen: You are not welcome. His visit symbolizes support for the murderous regime who have killed, arrested and detained hundreds of innocent people with impunity.

The leaders of the military junta have been violently steering the country off course for decades. Since 1 February, their selfishness and violence has heightened fears and anxieties as older generations are forced to relive traumas and a younger population grapples with what the reality of military rule looks like. Hun Sen shaking hands with Min Aung Hlaing, a ruthless dictator does not nothing but seemingly accept the mass crimes of soldiers routinely violating civilian rights and freedoms.

Civil society has been vocal in their opposition to the meeting between the two leaders in which over 190 organizations issued a joint statement condemned Hun Sen for supporting the terrorist regime. The calls were supported by Cambodian human rights groups as well. Protests across Myanmar were attended by activists, human rights defenders and civilians  who echoed calls rejecting Hun Sen’s visit scheduled on 7 January.

Min Aung Hlaing has failed to act on commitments he made to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, including halting violence against peaceful demonstrators, among other recommendations in the 5-Point Consensus. All efforts by ASEAN have been disappointing and have not led to any meaningful change. The fact that ASEAN chose to not invite representatives of the military to several meetings has not deterred the junta from their war path.

The General Strike Coordination Body released a statement also denouncing Hun Sen’s visit on the grounds that it ‘ignores the will of the Myanmar people.’ While visiting, ousted civilian government leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are not allowed to meet with the Cambodian officials.

The message being sent is clear, and must be heard. Cambodian is also riddled with a past of mass atrocities which amounted to genocide. Hun Sen has governed without hesitating to also squander voices of opposition, and has also made an enemy of the free press. “Dictators supporting dictators,” will not bode well and risks setting a standard that these meetings are to be accepted.

ASEAN has an obligation, as does the rest of the international community, to cut all business ties with the criminal regime and engage in a constructive dialogue with the National Unity Government.

CHIN STATE

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) has reported the deliberate burning of Thantlang town,  making it the 18th time the junta has deliberately scorched the area since 9 September. CHRO has been documenting the widespread human rights violations being perpetrated in Chin State. In Thantlang alone, over 10 000 people have been displaced. According to CHRO, as of 3 January, over 700 structures, including seven churches and a dozen religious buildings have been intentionally set on fire since 9 September.

As well documented by the media and rights groups, Chin State had known only peace  for many years until a strong resistance movement emerged after the attempted coup. Despite ongoing threats by the illegal junta to cooperate, or face violent threats to their lives and infrastructure, the Chin people have shown great courage in the midst of such horrors. Evidence and documentation of orders for soldiers to ‘clear the town’ must be taken seriously by the international community to hold the regime to account.

SHAN STATE

Fighting between the military junta and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State intensified in a suspected retaliation after two TNLA soldiers were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen. Six locals who were caught in the crossfire and all from the same family, were injured when an artillery shell landed on their home. Three children under the age of five also sustained injuries.

Fighting in Shan State has forced many civilians to flee their homes, prompting the Committee for Shan State Unity Committee to issue a statement calling on all stakeholders to find a solution to end violence and keep civilians safe.

KAYAH (KARENNI) STATE

The Karenni National Progressive Party announced that they are committed to exposing the junta’s widespread human rights violations by creating a documentary. One quarter of the population in conflict-torn Kayah (Karenni) State has been forcibly displaced by the Myanmar military’s violence. The junta has committed serious violations which have forced the most vulnerable to the brink of survival.

The announcement comes as more harrowing evidence emerges of the massacre where more than 30 people were killed in Kayah (Karenni) State, including women, children and the elderly. During a press conference, a doctor who carried out post-mortem examinations of the remains called the crimes against the victims said they were “murdered in the cruelest and most inhumane manner I have ever seen in my entire life.”

Over the weekend, the Kayah (Karenni) capital city of Loikaw was violently assaulted by junta armed forces in clashes which killed at least four civilians and displaced over 1000. The civilian armed resistance in Kayah (Karenni) State has been met with brute force from the Myanmar military. The ‘scorched-earth’ tactics being used are indicative of a worrying tactic of the junta to eliminate opposition, even at the cost of innocent civilian lives.

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Locals blame military after married couple’s mutilated bodies found in Sagaing

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The victims each had burn marks on their skin and the wife had one of her breasts missing

Locals in Sagaing’s Kalay Township found the badly mutilated bodies of a married couple late last month, days after they went missing, and have blamed the military for their murders.

Moe Moe Htay, 48, was found dead by the Myittha river on December 29 with a knife wound in her stomach, burn marks on her skin, and one of her breasts missing, a relative of the couple told Myanmar Now.

The body of her husband Nyi Nyi, 49, was found nearby the next day. “He had his hands tied to a bamboo stalk like a chicken and was burned,” said the relative.

The couple left their village of Khon Toe Myo Thar on December 25 to collect money they were owed by someone half an hour away in the village of Tinthar.

But they never arrived at their destination. The relative believes they were abducted and murdered by soldiers on guard duty at the Kabarni bridge.

The families of the couple held a funeral for them on January 6. Their bodies were cremated near the village where they were found.

They leave behind two sons, one in his teens and the other in his twenties.

Myanmar Now reviewed photos of the bodies that matched the descriptions given by the relative.

The injuries were so severe that the pair were only recognisable by their clothing, the relative said.

Several local residents declined to speak with Myanmar Now about the killings out of fear of being targeted by the military.

Calls to the Kalay Township police station seeking comment on the case went unanswered.

Locals in Kalay have mounted fierce armed resistance against the junta, inflicting heavy casualties against its forces with guerrilla-style attacks.

In response soldiers have routinely terrorised civilians with killings, abductions, torture and arson.

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