Apr 2nd, 2010
FBR REPORT:
Karen State, Burma 31 March, 2010
- Follow-up to story of Children Shot and Killed by Burma Army
- Landmine kills two boys
- Other Burma Army Attacks
The following is an update to the story of children killed by the Burma Army and includes the death of two boys by a Burma Army landmine and other killings and forced labor in Karen State.
On the 22nd of March two children and one woman were shot and killed and their village was burned by Burma Army soldiers in Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District, western Karen State. The mother of the two children who were killed, Naw Pah Lah, was also wounded. She was treated by FBR medics and has since shared her story of the attack.
Naw Pah Lah is a Ko Lu villager who had traveled to Ler Taw Lu to visit her parents. On 22 March she was returning home with her 5-year-old daughter and 5-month-old son. As she neared Kaw Hta village, soldiers from Burma Army LIB 369 (from MOC 10) attacked. Her 5-year-old daughter, Naw Paw Bo, was shot in the head and Naw Pah Lah was shot in the back as she carried her 5-month-old boy (Saw Hta Pla Htoo); the baby was hit in the thigh. She said, “I tried to hold my daughter’s hand and pull her but she was already dead so I left her on the trail. First, I thought I will run quickly and warn the Kaw Hta villagers, but because I was hit I could not make it. When I ran, two of the Burma Army soldiers came to me and said ‘run run’ in Karen language, but I couldn’t so I heard more gun shots in the village.”
One other woman was killed in the attack, Naw La Pwey, shot in the back by Burma Army soldiers. The Burma Army set fire to all 11 houses in the village, completely destroying 6. The 5-month-old child did not die immediately, but two and a half hours after the 4:30 p.m. attack. Naw Paw Bo, the 5-year-old girl, died immediately from a shot to the head and her mother was forced to leave her on the trail as she ran for her life and to save her son. Naw Paw Bo’s body was later found where the Burma Army had thrown her into the bushes and partially covered her blood left on the trail with dry leaves.
