Conflict kills at least 15 civilians in Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region

At least 15 civilians died in conflict-related violence in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region last month, according to local media reports and groups monitoring the situation in the region. The largest group of victims was in Launglon Township, where junta forces carried out a series of raids on at least six villages south of the township’s regime-controlled administrative centre between October 12 and October 19. The raids, prompted by the detention earlier in the month of nine junta-appointed census takers by local anti-regime groups, left at least five people dead. Two of the victims were killed on October 16, according to the spokesperson for the Dawei District Democracy Movement Strike Committee (DMSC), which tracks civilian casualties in the area. “A 73-year-old woman was shot dead, and later the same day they shot and killed a 35-year-old man as he attempted to flee on his motorcycle,” the spokesperson said. On October 21, the bodies of two men, both with severe neck injuries, were discovered in Nyin Maw, a village located about three miles south of the town of Launglon. One of the men was identified as a resident of Auk Yae Hpyu, a village located about four miles south of Nyin Maw. According to reports, a woman living in Auk Yae Hpyu died of a heart attack during a raid on the village. In neighbouring Thayetchaung Township, another body was found following a raid on the village of Oktu, located about 10 miles east of Nyin Maw on the opposite side of the Dawei River. Meanwhile, local media outlet the Tanintharyi Times reported that junta shelling killed a 45-year-old man in Yebyu Township on October 29 following a skirmish with anti-regime forces near the village of Nyin Htwe. Farther south in Myeik Township, heavy artillery fire also claimed the life of a six-year-old girl in Kywe Ku, a village about eight miles northeast of the coastal town of Myeik, local sources said. According to the Dawei District DMSC, three civilians were also killed by the Kawthoolei Army in Dawei Township on October 3, in the latest incident involving the group. A total of four other conflict-related deaths were reported in Tanintharyi, Kyunsu, and Kawthoung townships in October, according to the Tanintharyi Times. The responsibility for these incidents remains unclear. At least 16 civilians were killed by artillery shelling and drone strikes conducted by the military regime in Tanintharyi Region in September, according to the Tanintharyi Times.

Conflict kills at least 15 civilians in Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region

Most fell victim to junta raids or shelling, but a number of deaths over the past month were attributed to other groups or unknown causes

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