Civilians Injured by Burma Army Shelling and Beating in Panglong, Southern Shan State

Statement by Shan Human Rights Foundation | July 3, 2015

Woman injured by Burma Army shelling

Indiscriminate shelling by Burmese government troops in a civilian area caused serious injury to a woman on her way to her farm, north of Panglong, on June 19, 2015.

Following fighting on June 18 between the Burma Army and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) in northern Panglong township, Burmese troops from LIB 249 and LIB 513 began firing 60 mm mortar shells on June 19 from Ho Wan Nam Hkok towards the villages of Pha Hsur and Wan Mai Lin Lerng, Tart A village tract, Panglong township.

Photo: SHRF

When the sound of shelling broke out, a 38-year-old villager called Pa Hsai, from Wan Mai Lin Lerng, worried for the safety of her nephew working on their farm about two miles from their village. She therefore went to fetch him, but on the way a shell exploded near her, injuring her in the abdomen.

Pa Hsai bandaged herself with cloth to stem the bleeding, and managed to make her way back to her house, where her relatives called a medic to remove the shrapnel from her abdomen and stitch it up. However, the wound was quite deep, so Pa Hsai had to be transported to Loilem hospital for further treatment.

Photo: SHRF

No one from the Burma Army or from the government has come to investigate whether the shelling caused any casualties or to take any responsibility for the incident. LIB 249 and LIB 513 are under the control of Infantry Division 55, based in Kalaw, southern Shan State.

RCSS/SSA has had a ceasefire with the Burmese government since December 2011, and signed the “Deed of Commitment for National Peace and Reconciliation” with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw on February 12, 2015.

2. Elderly villager beaten by Burma Army troops

On June 21, 2015, at 8.30 pm, about 20 troops from Burma Army LIB 513 entered the village of Wan Koong Na Hsarn, Pha Hsur village tract, Pang Long township. A 50-year-old villager called Loong Nyunt, who lived in the outskirts of the village, came out of his house when he heard the soldiers, and shone his flashlight to find out where the sound was coming from. This led the soldiers to attack Loong Nyunt and beat him with rifle butts, causing a wound in his left cheek.

Apparently realizing they had just injured an innocent villager, the troops then took him to another village, Wan Koong, 2 miles away, where they stitched up his wound. They then released him, making him walk back to his village alone at night.

Loong Nyunt is a farmer who lived with his son, but on that day, his son had gone to tend other people’s cattle, leaving Loong Nyunt alone.