Shan Human Rights Foundation
October 6, 2025
Update: Extrajudicial killing and rape of civilians by junta troops in Kyaukme township
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On 24 September 2025, troops of the Burmese military regime killed four civilians sheltering in farm huts about 10 kilometers from Kyaukme town, including a sixteen-year-old girl who was also raped. The troops were taking part in a large-scale operation to retake Kyaukme from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, causing the displacement of over 10,000 villagers since August 2025.
On that day, at around 10:30 am, a group of about 100 junta troops patrolling from Na Ai Khan village towards Sakhantha village in Kyaukme township encountered a villager on the road. The soldiers interrogated and beat him. When he attempted to escape, two soldiers pursued him to a nearby hut, where they encountered a monk aged about 30. The monk, frightened upon seeing the soldiers, attempted to flee into the farm to hide. The soldiers shot the monk dead, hitting him in the right eye. A village leader witnessed this killing.
The soldiers then questioned the village leader about the whereabouts and number of people in the area. When he replied that about seven individuals were in nearby farm huts, the soldiers ordered him to summon them. They followed him on motorbikes, including one they had taken from the monk they had just killed. When they arrived at a hut, three villagers managed to flee including the village leader, but three remained inside: a mother, her 16-year-old daughter, and her 12-year-old son.
There were no direct witnesses to what happened inside the hut, but evidence strongly indicates that the soldiers were responsible for the killings and sexual violence. The 16-year-old daughter was found dead inside the hut, naked, with visible injuries and blood on her forehead and body. Her discarded clothes were discovered near the kitchen area, and military uniform items and a weapon were left beside her body.
It is believed that her mother had pleaded with the soldiers not to harm her daughter, but was shot dead with a bullet to the chest. The 12-year-old boy was also shot dead, with gunshot wounds to his stomach and head.
The father, who found the bodies the next morning, testified, “When I arrived, I saw my wife lying on the ground with a bullet wound in her chest, and my son lying next to her, covered in blood. My daughter’s clothes were on the ground, and her body was naked inside the hut. She had been raped and killed. I also found a Burma Army uniform and a gun next to her.”
During this time, junta aircraft flew overhead, forcing nearby villagers to hide. On 25 September, at around 11:30 am, villagers and relatives returned to the site and cremated the monk and buried the mother, daughter and son.
The victims of this incident were identified as: the monk, aged around 30; Ba Leng, the wife of Loong Aw; their daughter, Nang Thein Sar, aged 16; and their son, Sai Than Maung, aged 12.
The surviving husband and father, Loong Aw, aged 48, explained that he had been away from home on village security duty from 16 to 22 September at Loi Kaw village. On 24 September, other villagers informed him that his family had been killed. He was due to return on 22 September, but ongoing fighting and airstrikes prevented another villager from taking over his duty, so he could not return immediately. On 24 September at 3 pm, he returned home to Na Ai Khan village, but because of a jet fighter dropping bombs he did not go to the farm on that day, On 25 September, at about 7:30 am, he and two relatives went to the farm and confirmed the deaths of his wife and children.
Na Ai Khan village has around 150 households and a population of more than 350. At the time of the incident, most villagers had already fled the area due to ongoing fighting and airstrikes.
Junta airstrikes and artillery shelling in Kyaukme township
On September 8, at 3 pm, a junta jet fighter dropped bombs on Taung Say Lek of Kyaukme, damaging several houses.
On September 9, between 12:26 and 12:30 pm, a junta jet fighter dropped two bombs east of Kyaukme town on Loi Kaw village. At 6:30 pm, a junta jet fighter dropped bombs on Taung Say Lek village, damaging several houses.
On September 11, junta troops arrived at Khai Ton Hoong village.
On September 12, at 8 am, there was an airstrike on Nyeinchanye Gone and at 6 pm, Sakhantha and Khai Ton Hoong villages were shelled. At 1 pm, a junta jet fighter dropped bombs on Taung Say Lek village, damaging several houses.
On September 13, in the morning, the junta fired seven artillery shells and launched drone attacks on Koong Kaw village and Khai Ton Hoong village, and in the evening a junta jet fighter dropped bombs into Na Ai Khan, Pang Hai and Khai Ton Hoong villages.
On September 16 and 17, junta aircraft dropped bombs on Mark Mank Goong Sar village, damaging a temple and 5 houses.
On September 18, at 3 pm, junta troops fired seven artillery shells and launched drone attacks from Goke Hteik Bridge into Nawng Peid village, causing many houses to be damaged.
On September 20, at 8 am, during fighting, junta troops fired heavy artillery near Mong Tang tract. At 11 am, the junta troops fired artillery into Na Ai Khan village.
On September 22, at night, the junta troops fired artillery into Sakhantha village, injuring one villager.
On September 23, between 10 and 12 am, junta troops fired artillery into Bawk Inn lay (Bawk Ang Oon) village near Nam Hoo village, and into Nyeinchanye Gone, Na Ai Khan, Sakhantha and Long Wai villages. And at 3 pm, junta shells killed one man and injured two women, damaging several houses in Pang Pao village. At 4 pm, a junta Y-12 jet fighter dropped one 250-pound bomb on Nam Hsaw village, damaging several houses.
On September 24, at 7 pm, a junta Y-12 jet fighter dropped two 250-pound bombs on Pang Dee village temple, damaging many buildings in the temple.
On September 25, junta troops fired more than 60 artillery shells, from morning till night, at Sakhantha village, and Long Wai village, damaging several houses. At 11:30 am, a junta jet fighter dropped bombs on Sakhantha.
On September 26, in the morning, junta troops patrolled towards Sakhantha village. In the afternoon, junta troops launched artillery shells and drone bombs at Par Boke village, killing one man aged 69, and damaging several houses.
On September 27, in the afternoon, a junta Y-12 jet fighter dropped four bombs on Nam Hsaw village, damaging a temple and five houses. On that day at 4 pm, a junta Y-12 jet fighter dropped two 500-pound bombs on Pang Sabae village and a temple in Pang Kawn tract, damaging twenty houses and one temple.
On September 28, at 3 pm, junta troops fired more than 30 artillery shells into Long Wai village, causing several houses to burn down.
On September 29, at 1:30 pm, junta troops dropped four drone bombs on Kho Moong village, causing ten houses to burn down.
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