Aerial Bombing by Burma Army Jets Kills Three Villagers, Injures Seven in Kyaukme, Northern Shan State

Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) | January 16, 2017

Three civilians were killed and seven injured, including two women and a five-year-old child, when two Burma Army jets indiscriminately bombed Pang Mark Mur village, Kyaukme township, northern Shan State, on December 26, 2106.

On that day, at 8 am, troops of Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 506 staying at Wan Yawng Pang Hla village started firing shells towards the Loi Yean mountain area where the Ta’ang National Liberation Army was staying, about one mile from the village of Pang Mark Mur. The shelling lasted until 6.30 pm.

There are about 100 houses in Pang Mark Mur, with a population of over 300 people. The villagers were afraid when fighting broke out, and several families had gone to shelter in the house of a 70-year-old villager called  Lung Jeak Da. His house was larger than others, and villagers hoped they would be better protected there.

However, at about 4.05 pm, two Burma Army jets flew from Lashio, and began dropping bombs on the Loi Yean mountain area and also directly on the village of Pang Mark Mur.

A bomb landed directly on the house of  Lung Jeak Da, killing three men instantly, including  Lung Jeak Da, and injuring two women, one 5-year-old boy, and another man. A cow was also killed.

Three bombs landed around the village monastery, injuring four monks sheltering under the temple building. Apart from the monastery, altogether 16 houses in the village were damaged by the bombing.

Soon after the bombing, troops from LIB 506 entered Pang Mark Mur, and set up camp in the village. They ordered that the bodies of the three dead villagers be taken to be buried at Pang Larng cemetery that night. Some troops went with five male villagers and one female villager to bury the bodies at 7.30 pm. The troops did not let the villagers hold a proper funeral ceremony and invite any monks. The bodies were simply wrapped in mats and buried.

One of the monks phoned to a local Shan charity to send a truck to take the injured villagers to hospital. The truck left the village at 7.30 pm and arrived at Lashio Hospital early the next morning.  One of the injured women, 35-year-old Nang Khin Than Nu, lost her husband, Sai Ai Woon, and her father-in-law,  Lung Jeak Da, in the bomb attack. She has six children and is eight months pregnant. Her legs were badly injured by the explosion, and on January 6, her right leg had to be amputated.

Over 200 villagers fled to Kyaukme town after the bombing, where they took shelter in Nam Jet Lin Monastery. By the end of the first week of January, most had returned to their village. However, the Burma Army LIB 506 troops remain camped in the village, and several hundred troops from LIB 501 and 502 have also moved into the area.