Ethnic Karen armed group linked to killing of civilians in southern Myanmar

The Kawthoolei Army, an ethnic Karen armed group formed by the son of a former Karen National Union (KNU) leader, has been accused of killing civilians in Tanintharyi Region. In two separate incidents—one earlier this month, the other in December of last year—the group killed a total of six people, according to the Dawei District Democracy Movement Strike Committee (DMSC), which has investigated the incidents. On October 2, members of the Kawthoolei Army’s Sarkasaw Brigade detained three men on their way from the city of Dawei to the nearby village of Pakkari, the DMSC said in a recent statement, citing local sources. Six days later, the bodies of the men—identified as Sonny, Than Kywe, and Myint Lwin—were discovered near a checkpoint run by the Sarkasaw Brigade’s Battalion 3. All three had been shot and stabbed, the sources said. This follows the killing last December of three men in Dawei District’s Yebyu Township. The victims, originally from Bago Region, were living in the village of Kyauk Lone Gyi and were on their way to a gold-mining site when they were apprehended by troops from the Sarkasaw Brigade’s Battalion 2, according to the DMSC. The incident came to light only after one of those involved in killing the men was himself arrested by a resistance group active in the area. A video found on his phone showed the men pleading their innocence after being accused of acting as junta informants, and then being brutally murdered. The bodies of the men—identified as Kyaw Aye, 52, his 22-year-old son Kyaw Zaw Lin, and their 38-year-old colleague Hla Myint—have not been found. According to the DMSC, the Kawthoolei Army is believed to have killed at least 10 civilians in the area, but these are the only two cases for which any evidence has emerged. Myanmar Now reached out to the information officer for the group’s Sarkasaw Brigade for comment, but did not receive a response. Saw Nerdah Mya, who founded the Kawthoolei Army in July 2022 after being ousted as leader of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO)—one of the KNU’s two armed wings—was also unavailable for comment. The KNU says the Kawthoolei Army, whose founder is the son of the late KNU leader Bo Mya, regularly attacks its troops and kills civilians in its area of operation. According to Padoh Saw Eh Nah, secretary of the KNU’s Myeik-Dawei District, the Sarkasaw Brigade is led by Eh Khwee, a former KNU member who surrendered to Myanmar’s military in 2005 after being accused of robbery. The Sarkasaw Brigade is estimated to have around 100 troops active in Tanintharyi Region. Saw Nerdah Mya’s ouster as KNDO leader came in July 2021, two months after troops under his command killed 25 civilians in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township. The victims, who were among 47 people, including women and children, in the group’s custody at the time, were accused of being junta informants. The Kawthoolei Army was also allegedly involved in the killing of eight civilians in southern Tanintharyi Region’s Bokepyin Township in January 2023. However, the group denied all responsibility for the incident.

Ethnic Karen armed group linked to killing of civilians in southern Myanmar

The Kawthoolei Army has been accused of murdering at least 10 civilians in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region since it was formed just over two years ago

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