Over 6,000 flee SAC airstrikes, shelling, arson, extrajudicial killing and gang-rape in Mong Mit, northern Shan State

Update by the Shan Human Rights Foundation

February 27, 2024

Over 6,000 flee SAC airstrikes, shelling, arson, extrajudicial killing and gang-rape in Mong Mit, northern Shan State

Over 6,000 local residents have fled from Mong Mit town and surrounding villages due to airstrikes, shelling and abuses by SAC troops which killed twenty-seven civilians, injured twelve and incinerated large sections of the town between January 1 and February 2, 2024.

Of the civilians killed, seventeen were executed by troops of SAC Infantry Division (ID) 99, trucked into Mong Mit from Mandalay on January 2, after resistance forces of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), PDF and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) began operations to try and seize the town. The SAC troops shot dead villagers in their homes or in the jungle; some bodies were burned; two teenagers were beheaded. One woman was gang-raped before being shot – one of three incidents of gang-rape committed by the ID 99 troops in and near Mong Mit town.

The ID 99 troops also carried out looting and arson on a large scale, torching over 150 houses as collective punishment after resistance forces retreated from the town on January 27.

Over 4,000 IDPs are sheltering in outlying villages, farmlands and forests of Mong Mit, while about 2,000 have fled to Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin and Kyaukme. Even though fighting has died down since the end of January, the IDPs dare not return home as ID 99 troops remain camped in buildings across the town.

Given the strategic importance of Mong Mit — a wealthy mining hub and gateway from northern Shan State into Mandalay — it is unlikely the SAC will scale back its forces there in the near future.

The northern edge of Mong Mit township is also the location of the planned Shweli 3 dam, a $1.5 billion hydropower project revived by the SAC in 2023 – with an as yet undisclosed investor — following the pull-out of France’s EDF from the project in 2021 after the coup.

Details of airstrikes, shelling, looting and arson by SAC troops

Resistance forces began attacking SAC outposts east of Mong Mit town at the beginning of January. On January 1, over 100 KIA, ABSDF and PDF soldiers attacked SAC IB 276 troops based near Man Pat village, about 12 kilometers southeast of the town. On January 2, TNLA forces attacked SAC troops based at Jang Kang village on the Nam Mit river, five kilometers northeast of the town.

SAC troops responded by shelling indiscriminately from their bases near the town, and bringing in reinforcements from Mandalay. In the evening of January 2, three military trucks carrying about 200 troops from ID 99 arrived in Mong Mit, where they separated into groups, some staying in the town and some along the Nam Mit river.

From January 3 to 9, TNLA carried out attacks east of Mong Mit town, and SAC troops responded with airstrikes and shelling which injured two farmers and damaged several houses.

On January 8, KIA, ABSDF and PDF forces seized a SAC IB 276 outpost at Myitsone village, about 20 kms north of Mong Mit town, at the confluence of the Shweli and Nam Mit rivers on the border of Mabein township.

From January 11 to 12, SAC troops continued shelling indiscriminately northwards from their bases near Mong Mit town, killing two villagers, injuring a young boy, and damaging a temple and ten houses in Ohn Kyaw Mai village.

In the evening of January 18, joint KIA, ABSDF and PDF forces launched an attack on the SAC tactical post south of Mong Mit town and on the main police station. In response, two SAC jet fighters bombed indiscriminately around the town, killing one man, injuring one woman and four children, and damaging two temples and twenty houses.

On January 19, KIA and allied troops seized Mong Mit police station. That night, at 7 pm, Mong Mit market was burned to ashes by a SAC airstrike, destroying a large amount of civilian property. The fire lasted for several hours. At midnight, SAC ground troops entered Pauk Pin Tan quarter, and looted possessions from about 40 houses whose residents had fled due to the fighting. On that day, all communications, including internet and phone lines, were cut by the authorities.

On January 20, SAC again launched airstrikes over Mong Mit town, killing six civilians, including four women.

Fighting between SAC and joint KIA forces continued in and around Mong Mit town until January 27, when KIA and allied troops were forced to withdraw to Shwe Jali and Ohn Kyaw Mai villages north of the town. The SAC then shelled and dropped incendiary bombs on these villages, causing about 200 houses to burn down.

At 4 pm on January 27, SAC troops entered Let Kok Tan quarter, looted possessions from about 50 houses, then burned the houses down. Over the next six days, SAC troops continued looting and burning down houses in the southern quarter of Mong Mit town, torching a further 100 houses.

Details of extrajudicial killing and sexual violence by SAC troops

Seventeen villagers were killed by SAC ID 99 troops patrolling through the outskirts of Mong Mit town between January 19 and February 2. Most of the victims were male villagers who had stayed behind to look after their houses when other family members fled.

In Shwe Jali village alone, seven men were shot dead; two were burned after being shot. In Kyi Taw Su quarter, five men and one woman were shot dead; the men were tied up before being shot; the woman’s body was burned.

The ID 99 troops also mutilated the bodies of those killed. Two male teenagers were found beheaded near the bridge at the entrance to Mong Mit town.

There were three incidents of gang-rape by SAC ID 99 troops. On January 19, at 4 am, three SAC soldiers entered a house in Ywa Daw Lay quarter, on the western edge of the town, and gang-raped a 24-year-old woman in her bed, while threatening other family members at gunpoint.

On January 20, a group of SAC troops came across a couple who had returned from hiding in the jungle to feed their cattle in the village of Ohn Kyaw Mai. They shot dead the husband, raped his wife and then shot her dead in the throat.

On January 26, five SAC troops gang-raped a 32-year-old woman hiding in the forest near Shwe Jali village, leaving her severely injured.

There was also an attempt at sexual violence by SAC troops on January 21, when they found a group of villagers fleeing Thayetdaw village, among whom were four young women. The troops ordered the young women to stay behind, clearly intending to sexually abuse them. However, fortunately a male villager argued with the troops, enabling the women to escape, but he was then tied up and badly beaten by the troops. It is not known if he survived.

Details of displacement

After SAC began shelling and bombing villages around Mong Mit town at the start of January, villagers fled to take refuge in temples in the town, as well as to outlying villages, farmlands and forests. When fighting spread into the town, town residents fled to take refuge outside the town. Nearly 2,000 also fled outside the township, to Mandalay, as well as to Kyaukme and Pyin Oo Lwin townships.

Even though fighting died down at the end of January, the displaced villagers are still too afraid to return home, due to the ongoing presence of SAC troops camped around the town.

Contact

Sai Hor Hseng                  +66 99 246 5673 +66 94 728 6696      Signal  (Shan, English)

Ying Leng Harn                 +66 99 289 6080                                          Signal (Burmese)

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