This Short Update describes events occurring in T'Nay Hsah Township, Hpa-an District, in April 2025. From April 14th to 17th 2025, State Administration Council (SAC) shelling killed 11 villagers (including eight women), and injured two other villagers in T'Nay Hsah Township. On April 14th 2025, the SAC shelling injured a villager from Aa--- village, Noh Hpa Doh village tract. On April 15th, SAC shelling killed nine villagers, including three children, who lived in Ab--- village, Noh Hpa Doh village tract. On April 16th 2025, the SAC conducted shelling into Ac--- village, Kruh Tuh Hkee village tract, and killed two villagers. On April 17th 2025, the SAC fired a mortar shell into Ad--- village, Noh T'Pweh village tract, and lightly injured a villager and damaged a water well stand.[1]
SAC shelling causes casualties in T'Nay Hsah Township
On April 14th 2025, in the afternoon at around 4 pm, the State Administration Council (SAC)[2] indiscriminately fired mortar shells into Aa--- village, Noh Hpa Doh village tract[3], T'Nay Hsah Township, Hpa-an District, and injured a villager named Saw[4] A--- on his right ankle.
Saw A--- explained [to KHRG]: "In the morning, fighting [between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[5] and the SAC] happened in my village [area]. In the afternoon, after the sound of gunfire had stopped, my mother cooked rice. Later, [she] left [her house] to feed her cattle." [After his mother had left the house,] he [Saw A---] went to the toilet [located outside of the house]. As he was returning from the toilet [at around 4 pm], a mortar shell landed behind the toilet, and shrapnel [from the explosion] hit his ankle. He fell [on the ground] immediately [after he was hit].
He [Saw A---] received treatment [free of charge] in Ae--- village, Noh Hpa Doh village tract, from a healthcare worker [trained by the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)[6]], as well as from a traditional medicine healer. Saw A--- and his family members [along with many other villagers from nearby villages] have fled to Ae--- village.
The mortar shell was a 120 mm shell, and villagers believed it was fired by [SAC] Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[7] #545, [since they are] based in [adjacent] Kruh Tuh [area, Kruh Tuh Township].
On April 15th 2025, between 7 and 8 am, Burma Army soldiers fired a 120 mm mortar shell [into Ab--- village, Noh Hpa Doh village tract], killing [nine] extended family members who lived in Ab--- village. The family members were all Tamil.
According to the village head of Ab--- village named U[8] B---, in the morning, Karen [KNLA] soldiers entered the village and told the villagers to move to another place [because there had been fighting near the village]. Many mortar shells [fired by the SAC] landed near the village, but they did not injure anyone. However, at about 7 am, [a group of nine] extended family members were preparing to flee the village. When they had all gathered inside a car [a jeep], a 120 mm mortar shell landed on the car, killing seven of them on the spot.
The explosion killed seven people instantly: C--- (27 years old), D--- (35 years old), E--- (32 years old), F--- (22 years old), G--- (9 years old), H--- (7 years old), and I---'s daughter (10 months). Two other people [Maung[9] J--- (28 years old), and K--- (27 years old)] were still alive [but injured seriously], so they were sent to Hpa-an hospital [in SAC-controlled Hpa-an Town, in Hpa-an District]. However, they died on the way. They were buried in Af--- [village], near Hpa-an Town.
Villagers think that this mortar shell was fired by SAC soldiers based in Kruh Tuh [area] [in Kruh Tuh Township]. However, the villagers were not sure if it was fired by LIB #545 or LIB #546 [as both LIBs are based in the area]. [All other villagers from Ab--- village fled the village.]
On April 16th 2025, at 4 pm, the Burma Army [SAC] conducted shelling into Ac--- village, Kruh Tuh Hkee village tract, T'Nay Hsah Township, Hpa-an District, and hit Saw L--- and Saw M--- while they were riding their motorcycle to go shopping. Villagers said the mortar shell was 120 mm. While they were unsure which battalion [SAC] fired the shell, they believed the mortar shell was fired from Kruh Tuh [area].
Saw L--- was killed on the spot. Saw M--- was sent to a clinic but he died on the way. On that same night, the two were buried [by the village tract leader and other villagers] at Ag--- cemetery, Kruh Tuh Hkee village tract, T'Nay Hsah Township.
On April 17th 2025, at 3 pm, the Burma Army fired a mortar shell into Ad--- village, Noh T'Pweh village tract, T'Nay Hsah Township. The mortar shell landed in the house compound of a villager named Saw N--- when he was building a water well. Villagers stated that it was unclear which [SAC] battalion fired this mortar shell, but local [Karen National Union (KNU)[10]] authorities assumed that the mortar shell was fired by the [SAC's] Military Operations Command (MOC)[11] #12, based at the Hlaing Wa army camp [near Kaw T'Ree Town, Kaw T'Ree Township, Dooplaya District] or Burma Army troops based at Kyaik T'Ta bridge [in Kruh Tuh Township]. [12]
The shell landed when Saw N---, Maung O---, and Saw P--- were mixing cement to build the water well. The shrapnel hit the water well's stands and nearby trees. One person [Saw N---] was lightly injured by sand and stone [sent into the air by the mortar shell explosion]. A KNU Township leader stated that the shell casing separated from the nose of the shell in the air and that the shell was not a 120 mm shell.
During fighting with the KNLA near Kruh Tuh and Kaw T'Ree Towns, the Burma Army indiscriminately conducted shelling onto the village and not at their enemy [the KNLA].
Further background reading on the situation on SAC Shelling Attacks in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports: